TWENTIETH   CENTURY  TEXT-BOOKS 


EDITED    BY 


A.    F.   NIGHTINGALE,    Ph.D.,    LL.D. 

SUPERINTENDENT     OF     SCHOOLS,    COOK    COUNTY,    ILLINOIS 
FORMERLY    SUPERINTENDENT    OF   HIGH   SCHOOLS,   CHICAGO 


TWENTIETH    CENTURY   TEXT-BOOKS 


A   HISTORY   OF 
THE  AMERICAN   NATION 


BY 


Andrew  c.  Mclaughlin 

PROFESSOR    OF    AMERICAN    HISTORY    IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY    OF    MICHIGAN 


NEW   YORK 
D.    APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 

1903 


■  \ 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  IX   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 

HENRY  MOftSE  STEFHM» 


PKEFACE. 


The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  trace  the  main  outlines 
of  national  development,  to  show  how  the  American  people 
came  to  be  what  they  are.  These  main  outlines  include 
the  struggle  of  the  nations  of  western  Europe  for  possession 
of  the  New  World  and  the  final  victory  of  England  over 
France ;  the  foundation  of  English  colonies  and  their  de- 
velopment as  effective  instruments  for  winning  and  hold- 
ing dominion  for  the  English  king;  the  steady  progress 
of  these  colonies  in  strength  and  self-reliance  until  they 
were  fit  for  independence  ;  the  growth  of  political  ideas  and 
governmental  forms  in  preparation  for  the  organization  of 
the  new  republic  ;  the  separation  from  the  mother  country 
and  the  assertion  of  distinct  nationality;  the  difficulties 
and  disorders  of  the  confederate  period,  when  the  country 
presented  the  "  awful  spectacle  "  of  a  "  nation  without  a 
national  government "  ;  the  finding  of  suitable  and  proper 
political  organization  by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States ;  the  effort  to  maintain  national  inde- 
pendence and  to  keep  free  from  entangling  alliances  with 
Europe  at  a  period  when  much  of  the  civilized  world  was 
at  war,  and  the  nations  of  Europe  had  neither  respect  nor 

regard  for  the  feeble  democracy  on  this  side  of  the  ocean ; 

iii 

510838 


iv  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  continuing  problem  as  to  whether  the  American  repub- 
lic, stretching  over  so  wide  a  territory  and  embracing  so 
many  interests,  could  continue  to  exist  or  would  be  broken 
into  pieces  by  the  operation  of  local  prejudices  and  jeal- 
ousies— a  problem  that  became  more  serious  after  1820,  when 
it  began  to  come  home  to  the  minds  of  men  that  the  North 
and  South,  though  not  legally  separated,  were  actually 
divergent ;  the  growth  of  slavery  and  of  antislavery  senti- 
ment and  the  gradual  separation  of  the  sections,  until  the 
uth  sought  to  sever  the  bonds  of  union  and  to  establish 
a  proslavery  confederacy ;  the  declaration  of  the  civil  war 
that  there  must  be  one  nation,  and  that,  as  a  house  divided 
against  itself  will  surely  fall  and  a  nation  can  not  exist  half 
slave  and  half  free,  the  nation  should  be  wholly  free ;  the 
events  of  the  period  of  reconciliation  that  followed  after 
strife,  a  period  during  which  the  two  sections  were  welded 
anew  into  a  nation  stronger  and  sounder  than  ever  before. 
The  main  outlines  of  national  progress  must  also  show 
how  American  territory  has  been  extended ;  how  the  Flori- 
das,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Oregon,  California  and  the  great 
West,  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Puerto  Rico,  became  part  of  the 
United  States,  and  how  Western  expansion  has  gone  on  until 
now  the  newest  West  is  in  the  farthest  Orient. 

I  have  endeavored  in  this  volume  to  mark  out  these 
different  phases  of  progress,  and  hope  that  I  have  not  been 
unsuccessful.  I  have  sought  chiefly  so  to  narrate  the  events 
of  the  past  that  the  reader  will  come  to  an  appreciation  of 
his  political  surroundings  and  of  the  political  duties  that 
devolve  upon  him.  For  this  reason  especial  attention  has 
been  paid  to  political  facts,  to  the  rise  of  parties,  to  the 
issues  involved  in  elections,  to  the  development  of  govern- 


PREFACE.  v 

mental  machinery,  and,  in  general,  to  questions  of  govern- 
ment and  administration.  While  all  references  to  indus- 
trial changes  and  facts  of  interest  in  industrial  history  have 
not  been  omitted,  those  events  have  been  selected  which 
seem  to  have  the  most  marked  effect  on  the  progress  or  the 
make-up  of  the  nation.  Isolated  and  unrelated  facts  in  any 
field  of  historical  inquiry  do  not  constitute  history. 

The  short  lists  of  references  which  appear  here  and  there 
throughout  this  volume  contain  only  a  few  of  the  best  and 
most  readable  books.  As  a  rule,  only  those  are  mentioned 
that  are  easily  accessible,  and  that  are  of  such  a  character 
that  high-school  pupils  will  be  likely  to  read  them  and  en- 
joy them.  A  small  pamphlet  has  been  prepared  to  accom- 
pany this  volume,  which  will,  it  is  thought,  be  of  service  to 
teachers.  It  contains  a  bibliography  and  list  of  topics  for 
outside  study,  suggestions  on  methods  of  teaching,  and 
kindred  matter. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  illustrative  material  contained 
in  this  volume  will  prove  to  be  truly  illustrative  and  help- 
ful. I  have  sought  to  select  only  trustworthy  portraits  of 
leading  persons,  and  a  few  pictures  that  have  in  themselves 
historical  value,  either  because  they  are  contemporary  rep- 
resentations of  a  situation  or  because  they  actually  repro- 
duce a  past  condition.  Merely  imaginative  pictures  which 
have  no  real  historical  value  are  altogether  out  of  place  in  a 
high-school  text-book.  A  great  deal  of  time  and  patient 
work  have  been  expended  on  the  preparation  of  the  maps, 
and  while  one  can  hardly  dare  hope  that  they  are  absolutely 
without  error,  I  trust  that  they  will  be  found,  on  the  whole, 
accurate,  truthful,  and  illustrative. 

I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to  Prof.  Isaac  N.  Dem- 


VI 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


mon,  who  kindly  read  the  whole  of  my  manuscript.  I 
received  many  helpful  suggestions  from  the  editors  of  the 
series.  I  wish  to  make  special  acknowledgment  to  Prof. 
Burke  A.  Hinsdale,  who  examined  my  manuscript  with 
care,  and  gave  me  valuable  advice  both  as  to  content  and 
as  to  method  of  treatment. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  to  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co., 
the  publishers  of  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History 
of  America  and  of  Winsor's  Christopher  Columbus,  for  per- 
mission to  reproduce  the  picture  of  Columbus,  page  11,  and 
two  of  the  old  maps,  also  to  Osgood  &  Co.,  publishers  of 
Winsor's  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  and  to  the  Magazine 
of  American  History  for  two  or  three  of  the  illustrations  in 
the  text. 

Short  as  this  book  is  and  carefully  as  it  has  been  writ- 
ten, I  do  not  expect  to  find  it  faultless,  and  I  shall  be  under 
obligation  to  any  one  who  will  point  out  its  mistakes.  The 
necessary  brevity  makes  perfect  accuracy  of  statement  very 
difficult,  inasmuch  as  less  than  the  whole  truth  is  sometimes 
as  bad  as  falsehood. 

University  of  Michigan,  March  1,  1899. 


A* 


Lake  of 


tfU& 


*   /  Tor^^^tA^A^. 


ouis 


CITY^       C^r^;  _/n    °  /S'^<     ft"    G      V       - 


ASHVj^-®E    s     S^> 


&HLEQUAH 

//  v  \LwS.^ 

|  \Yicksbuilg«S    ^ACKSO^  j      (0MoNTGOMlER 
>        | 


Kn'U-oii 


0 


;-,!■:  k. 


Odea 


K 


Q      U      L 


O       F 


J 


3f  E 

TROPIC  OF 


r       c 

CANCEn  


23. 


W 


^ 


*^ 


«       T| 


$:~-- --v 


TJXITED  STATES 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


0  100         200         300         400         500 


West  90  from 


Greenwich  80 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — Discovery  and  exploration 1 

II.— The  Southern  colonies— 1607-1700       ....  28 

III.— The  New  England  colonies— 1607-1700       ...  67 

IV.— The  Middle  colonies— 1609-1700 97 

V. — History  of  the  colonies  in  the  eighteenth  century.  116 

VI.— France  and  England— 1608-1763 129 

VII. — Social,  industrial,  and   political   condition   of  the 

colonies  in  1760 151  f 

VIII. — Causes  of  the  Revolution 169 

IX.— The  Revolution— 1775-1783 189 

X. — The  Confederation  and  the  Constitution — 1781-1789.  216 
XI. — Federal  supremacy — Organization   of   the   Govern- 
ment—1789-1801     233 

XII. — The   supremacy  of   the    Republicans — Foreign  com- 
plications—War— 1801-1817        260  x 

XIII. — Political  and  industrial  reorganization — 1817-1829.  296 
XIV. — Democracy  and   slavery — Industrial   and   economic 
controversies — The    annexation    of    Texas — 1829- 

1845 322 

XV. — Territorial  expansion — Shall  slave   territory  be 

extended  ?— 1845-1861 359 

XVI.— Secession  and  civil  war — 1861-1865      ....  417 

XVII. — Political  and  social  reconstruction — 1867-1877        .  469 

XVIII.— The  new  nation— 1877-1899 499 

XIX. — Conclusion 536 

Appendix 548 

Index 573 

vii 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTKATIONS. 


PAGE 

George  Washington Frontispiece 

Restoration  of  a  Norse  ship 5 

Building  a  ship  of  the  fifteenth  century 9 

Earliest  engraved  likeness  of  Christopher  Columbus      ...  11 

Drawing  attributed  to  Columbus 17 

Facsimile  of  the  sentence  in  which  America  was  first  named        .  21 

The  house  where  Columbus  died 27 

Captain  John  Smith 39 

Captain  John  Smith's  adventures 40,  43 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh 66 

First  page  of  the  Bradford  manuscript 73 

John  Winthrop 81 

John  Winthrop,  Jr 87 

Peter  Stuyvesant 103 

William  Penn 110 

Title-page  of  the  Frame  of  Government  of  Pennsylvania       .        .  112 

Penn's  house  in  Philadelphia 115 

James  Oglethorpe 126 

Christ  Church,  Boston 128 

Defeat  of  the  Iroquois 131 

Samuel  Adams 152 

Gunston  Hall 155 

New  York  city  in  1732 161 

Benjamin  Franklin 162 

Franklin's  birthplace 162 

William  and  Mary  College 168 

Patrick  Henry 170 

James  Otis 174 

A  newspaper  broadside  on  the  day  before  the  Stamp  Act  went 

into  effect 176 

Handbill  issued  to  check  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act  .        .        .177 

Handbill  announcing  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act        ....  179 

ix 


X  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

PAGE 

John  Dickinson 180 

Portion  of  a  handbill  recalling  the  Boston  massacre       .        .        .  182 

The  Boston  massacre 188 

The  battle  of  Lexington 190 

Jefferson's  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence      .        .        .  195 

Robert  Morris 201 

Nathanael  Greene      .        .        . 211 

A  page  of  Washington's  accounts 214 

Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia 215 

James  Wilson 224 

Gouverneur  Morris 225 

Rufus  King 226 

Cuts  from  a  Boston  newspaper  published  while  the  Constitution 

was  being  ratified 229 

John  Jay 234 

Wall  Street  in  1789 236 

Henry  Knox 238 

Alexander  Hamilton 240 

The  Campus  Martins,  Marietta,  Ohio,  1798 248 

John  Adams .        .  253 

Reception  of  Washington  at  Trenton,  1789 259 

Thomas  Jefferson 260 

Albert  Gallatin 261 

John  Marshall 266 

James  Madison 276 

The  frigate  Constitution 284 

The  house  where  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  discussed       .        .        .  295 

James  Monroe 296 

Cincinnati  in  1810 298 

Henry  Clay 309 

John  Quincy  Adams 311 

John  Randolph 313 

Advertisement  of  the  first  passenger  train  in  Massachusetts  .        .  316 

Marietta,  Ohio,  in  early  days 321 

Andrew  Jackson 322 

John  C.  Calhoun 326 

Daniel  Webster 327 

William  Lloyd  Garrison 342 

The  first  message  sent  by  the  Morse  telegraph        ....  358 

Winfield  Scott 367 

Zachary  Taylor 375 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XI 


PAGE 

William  H.  Seward 380 

Charles  Sumner 396 

James  Buchanan 398 

John  Brown's  fort 408 

Newspaper  announcement  of  the  secession  of  South  Carolina        .  411 

Jefferson  Davis 415 

Abraham  Lincoln 417 

Joseph  E.  Johnston 424 

George  B.  McClellan 425 

Edwin  M.  Stanton 429 

Albert  Sidney  Johnston 430 

Union  gunboats  on  the  Cumberland 431 

Robert  E.  Lee 437 

Stonewall  Jackson 439 

Lincoln's  draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation         .        .        .  442 

George  G.  Meade 444 

George  II.  Thomas 447 

Philip  11.  Sheridan 455 

The  Confederate  ram  Tennessee 456 

John  B.  Hood 458 

William  T.  Sherman 459 

Salmon  P.  Chase 461 

Ulysses  S.  Grant 482 

Samuel  J.  Tilden 495 

Buildings  of  the  Centennial  Exposition,  1876 498 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 499 

James  A.  Garfield 507 

Grover  Cleveland 511 

Benjamin  Harrison 515 

William  McKinley 529 

The  Maine 531 

The  Court  of  Honor,  Columbian  Exposition,  1893  ....  547 


LIST   OF  MAPS  AND   TABLES. 


page; 
Physical  map  of  the  United  States  (colored)    .        .     Facing  title 

Political  map  of  the  United  States  (colored)    .        .        .      facing  vi 

Linguistic  stocks  of  American  Indians  (colored)      .        .      facing  2 

Ptolemy  map 13 

Toscanelli's  map 14 

Western  half  of  Lenox  globe 22 

Mercator  map  of  1541        .        . 25 

Western  half  of  the  Ribero  map 26 

Territory  granted  by  the  charter  of  1606 35 

Territory  granted  by  the  charter  of  1609 41 

Maryland  grant 56 

Grant  of  the  Carolinas 62 

John  Smith's  map  of  New  England 68 

Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations 86 

Territory  granted  to  Mason  and  Gorges 90 

New  England,  1650 93 

Van  der  Donck's  map  of  New  Netherlands,  1656    ....  99 

European  possessions,  1650  (colored) 101 

East  Jersey  and  West  Jersey 106 

The  Iroquois  country 132 

The  Joliet  map 134 

La  Hontan's  map  of  Canada 137 

European  claims  and  possessions,  1755  (colored)     ....  141 

Theater  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  ....     142,  144,  146 

Contemporary  plan  of  the  siege  of  Quebec       .        .        .      facing  146 

Central  North  America,  1763-83  (colored) 149 

Boston  and  surrounding  towns 192 

Boston  and  vicinity,  1776 193 

New  York  and  vicinity,  1776 198 

The  Revolution  in  the  Middle  States 202 

The  Revolution  in  the  South 209 

The  United  States,  1783  (colored) 219 

xii 


LIST  OF  MAPS  AND  TABLES.  xiii 

PAGE 

Distribution  of  population,  1790  (colored) 231 

The  election  of  1796  (colored) 251 

Central  North  America,  1803  (colored) 263 

Route  of  Lewis  and  Clark 270 

The  war  in  the  West,  1812 282 

War  on  Niagara  frontier 283 

War  on  northern  frontier 286 

War  in  the  South 288 

Vicinity  of  Baltimore  and  Washington,  1812 289 

Cruise  of  the  Essex 290 

Western  extension  of  population  in  1820  (colored)  ....  299 

The  Missouri  compromise  line 305 

The  election  of  1828  (colored) 319 

Distribution  of  population  in  1840  (colored) 337 

Texas 357 

The  Mexican  War 366 

Acquisition  of  territory  in  the  West,  1803-53 370 

The  Western  Territories,  1854 390 

The  election  of  1856  (colored) •     .        .        .397 

Western  extension  of  population,  1860  (colored)     ....  405 

The  United  States  in  1861  (colored)          ....      facing  416 

Charleston  harbor 419 

The  civil  war  in  the  East 423 

The  war  in  the  West .  426 

Battle  of  Shiloh .  433 

Battle  of  Hampton  Roads 435 

The  Peninsula  campaign 436 

Battle  of  Fredericksburg 440 

Battle  of  Gettysburg        .                                  445 

Siege  of  Vicksburg 446 

Historical  sketch  of  the  war 453 

The  campaigns  of  the  civil  war  (colored)         .        .        .      facing  458 

Western  extension  of  population  in  1870  (colored) ....  491 

The  election  of  1876  (colored) 497 

The  election  of  1896  (colored) 527 

Puerto  Rico 532 

Philippine  Islands 533 

Hawaiian  Islands 534 

Distribution  of  population  in  1890  (colored) 537 

Movement  of  the  center  of  population 538 

Productions  of  pig  iron  in  the  United  States           ,        ,        ,  540 


xiv  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

PAGE 

Teachers  in  common  schools  and  appropriations  for  schools  .        .     543 
Relative  areas  of  the  States  of  the  Union  and  European  States      .     548 
Summary  of  popular  and  electoral  votes  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States 549-553 

Summary  of  the  States  and  Territories 554-555 

Cities  of  over  100*000  inhabitants  in  1900        .....     555 
United  States,  showing  the  territorial  acquisitions   previous  to 

1898 facing    572 


a^^^^'/^K- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Discovery  and  Exploration. 

The  Western  Hemisphere  has  been  the  dwelling  place  of 
men  for  a  great  many  centuries.  Long  before  the  existence 
of  the  Western  World  was  known  to  Europeans, 
Antiquity  of  jn  fac^  Defore  Europe  itself  was  civilized  or 
had  a  history,  human  beings  wandered  over 
these  continents.  It  is  even  confidently  asserted  that  men 
were  living  here  in  the  glacial  age,  when  the  northern  part 
of  North  America,  nearly  as  far  south  as  the  present  site 
of  Philadelphia,  was  swathed  in  a  great  ice  sheet.  As  to 
this  there  are  differences  of  opinion  among  scholars,  but  it 
is  plain  that  the  antiquity  of  man  in  America  is  so  great 
that  it  does  not  furnish  a  problem  for  the  historian,  for  he 
deals,  in  the  main,  with  the  work  and  progress  of  civilized 
men,  who  are  formed  into  political  bodies  or  states. 

There  seems  likewise  little  need  of  prolonged  discussion 

concerning  the  original  home  of  these  primitive  men.     For 

•  the  ethnologists  this  problem  is  full  of  interest, 

Origin  of  man      an(j   C0ll\^  they  reach   substantial   agreement 

in  America.  J  ,  ° 

the  student  of  history  would  accept  their  con- 
clusions ;  but  special  students  of  the  subject  seem  hope- 
lessly at  variance.  Men  may  have  made  their  way  hither 
from  Asia  thousands  of  years  ago,  when  there  was  a  con- 
tinuous strip  of  land  where  the  Aleutian  Islands  now  form, 
as  it  were,  a  dotted  line  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New. 

l 


g  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  primitive  inhabitants  of  Central  America  may  be  of 
the  same  stock  as  the  inhabitants  of  some  portions  of 
southern  Asia ;  and,  indeed,  some  scholars  assert  that  they 
find  striking  similarities  between  these  races.  These  peoples 
may  have  come  to  this  continent  by  way  of  the  islands  of  the 
central  Pacific.  But  of  all  this  there  is  no  substantial  proof. 
It  seems  probable  that  there  was  some  contact,  in  times  far 
past,  between  the  civilizations  or,  as  we  may  more  properly 
say,  the  "  culture  "  of  southern  Asia,  or  even  of  Africa,  and 
that  of  America ;  but  here  again  one  can  speak  with  no 
certainty.  It  seems,  on  the  other  hand,  quite  within  reason 
that  the  semicivilization  of  Mexico  and  Peru  might  have 
grown  up  without  influence  from  other  continents. 

When  the  New  World  became  known  to  Europeans  the 
natives  of  some  portions  of  it  were  quite  far  advanced  to- 
ward civilization.     This  was  especially  true,  as 
Peru  and  }ias  already  been  intimated,  of  Peru  and  Mexico. 

The  people  of  those  regions  were  far  from  sav- 
agery. The  people  of  Peru  had  fine  buildings  and  magnifi- 
cent roads;  they  worked  skillfully  in  metals,  fashioning 
beautiful  vases,  or  forging  arms  for  war  and  tools  for  the 
husbandman.  Gold,  silver,  lead,  and  copper  were  known 
and  used  by  them.  They  raised  great  crops  of  corn  and 
potatoes,  and  kept  vast  flocks  of  llamas  and  alpacas.  Their 
language  was  rich  and  copious,  and  capable  of  expressing 
fine  shades  of  thought  and  noble  ideas.  Though  they  had 
no  system  of  writing,*  they  seem  to  have  composed  and  re- 
membered dramas,  poems,  and  histories.  The,  Mexicans 
were  not  far  behind  the  Peruvians  in  advancement. 

*  A  curious  method  of  keeping  accounts  and  perhaps  recording 
events  is  described  in  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  vol.  i,  p. 
243.  The  "  quipus  "  used  for  this  purpose  was  a  set  of  ropes  in  which 
knots  could  be  tied  at  different  places.  Mr.  Markham  suggests  that 
the  system  of  accounting  was  better  than  the  exchequer  tallies  used  in 
England  even  down  to  the  nineteenth  century.  See  "  Tally  "  in  the 
dictionary. 


110  Longitude       105 


DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION.  3 

Many  persons    have    supposed    that   there   existed  in 

North   America   a   race   of    "  mound   builders,"   who   had 

reached   a   high   plane  of  culture,  before   the 

The  mound         advent    of    the    red     Indian.      To   this    race 

builders. 

have  been  attributed  the  artificial  mounds 
and  earthworks  that  are  found  in  considerable  numbers 
especially  throughout  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  The  evidence  seems  conclusive,  however, 
that  the  mound  builders  were  really  Indians ;  but  it  is 
not  impossible  that  at  an  earlier  day  they  were  some- 
what more  advanced  than  when  they  became  known  to 
Europeans. 

Of  the  Indians  of  North  America  with  whom  the  Euro- 
pean people  came  into  contact  we  may  mention  especially 

three  groups  or  families :  *  1.  The  Algonquin 

The  Indians.         -       -i  i  i 

iamily,  a  numerous  people  occupying  a  large 
extent  of  country.  Their  dwelling  place  and  hunting 
grounds  reached  from  Hudson  Bay  on  the  north  to  the 
Carolinas  on  the  south,  and  westward  even  beyond  the 
Great  Lakes.  2.  The  Muskhogees,  living  south  of  the  Al- 
gonquins  and  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  To  this  family 
belonged  the  Seminoles,  Choctaws,  and  other  tribes.  3. 
The  Huron-Iroquois,  who  held  the  region  south  of  Lakes 
Erie  and  Ontario  and  the  peninsula  east  of  Lake  Huron. f 
"  They  formed,  as  it  were,  an  island  in  the  vast  expanse  of 
Algonquin  population."  One  detached  tribe  of  this  family, 
the  Tuscaroras,  lived  in  the  Carolinas ;  but  at  a  later  time, 

*  The  teacher  or  student  desirous  of  getting  an  idea  of  the  extent ' 
and  location  of  the  Indian  tribes  will  find  interesting  accounts  in  Park- 
man,  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  vol.  i,  chap,  i ;  Fiske,  The  Dis- 
covery of  America,  vol.  i,  chap,  i ;  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  chap,  i ; 
Shaler,  The  United  States  of  America,  vol.  i,  chap.  iv.  The  rela- 
tions of  the  French  and  English  with  the  Indians  is  given  in  Winsor, 
Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  i,  chap.  v. 

f  Generally  when  the  Iroquois  are  spoken  of  the  tribes  of  central 
New  York  are  meant. 


4  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

after  a  disastrous  war  with  the  English  settlers,  they  joined 
their  kinsmen  at  the  North. 

Of  these  groups  of  Indians  the  Iroquois  were  the  most 
warlike.     They  waged  almost  ceaseless  war  on  neighboring 
tribes   and  subdued   and   conquered   many  of 
nation™  them.    They  were  bold,  crafty,  and  cruel,  gift- 

ed with  great  energy  and  considerable  intelli- 
gence.* The  confederacy  of  "  five  nations,"  who  occupied 
the  central  part  of  what  is  now  New  York,  was  well  or- 
ganized for  war  and  conquest,  and  held  a  position  of  great 
military  advantage  at  the  sources  of  rivers  that  flowed 
northward  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  eastward  to  the  Hudson 
and  the  Atlantic,  or  found  their  way  even  southward  to  the 
Gulf.f 

The  first  connection  between  Europe  and  America  of" 
which  anything  is  known  was  made  by  adventurous  Nortli- 
men  from  Iceland.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
tenth  century  they  founded  settlements  in 
Greenland.  Possibly  we  may  believe  that  Bjarni  Herjulf- 
son,  driven  from  his  course  on  a  voyage  to  these  settlements, 
first  saw  the  mainland  of  America,  which  proved  to  be  not 
the  shore  of  mountains  and  icy  fiords,  but  "  a  land  flat  and 
covered  with  trees,"  several  days'  sail  southwest  from  Green- 
land. Whether  this  tale  be  true  or  not,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  about  the  year  1000  Leif  Ericson,  the  son  of  that  Eric 
the  Red  who  had  begun  the  settlement  of  Greenland,  actu- 
ally found  the  continent  and  that  he  with  a  number  of 
companions  spent  the  winter  somewhere  upon  its  shores. 

*  Parkman,  The  Jesuits  in  America,  gives  a  highly  entertaining 
story  of  the  power  and  horrible  cruelty  of  the  Iroquois.  See  also  Hart, 
American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  vol.  i,  p.  129. 

f  An  examination  of  the  map  will  show  what  a  center  the  middle  of 
New  York  is.  While  the  Mohawk  flows  eastward  to  the  Hudson,  the 
Susquehanna  flows  southeast,  the  group  of  lakes  is  connected  with  the 
St.  Lawrence  system,  and  Lake  Chautauqua  belongs  to  the  Mississippi 
Valley. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION. 


They  found  grapes  in  the  new  country,  and  "  Leif ,  giving 
the  country  a  name  from  its  products,  called  it  Vinland." 
In  the  course  of  a  few  years  other  Northmen  came  to  these 
strange  coasts  where  there  were  tall  trees  and  vines.  A 
settlement  was  made,  but  the  settlers  were  attacked  by  the 
natives,  who  proved  fierce  and  unfriendly,  so  that  the  colony 
was  abandoned. 


The  sagas. 


A  Norse  Ship  of  the  Tenth  Century. 
A  restoration  of  the  remains  of  an  old  ship  found  in  1880. 

The  accounts  of  these  Norse  discoveries  are  recorded  in 
Icelandic  chronicles  called  "  sagas."  Many  historians  have 
doubted  their  trustworthiness,  and  have  looked 
upon  the  voyages  of  Bjarni  and  Leif  as  mere 
mythical  tales.  Others  have  taken  them  too  literally,  have 
believed  all  their  details,  and  striven  to  find  out  from  their 
vague  descriptions  the  exact  place  where  the  Northmen 
settled.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  there  is  good  reason 
for  believing  the  main  outline  of  the  story,  and  for  think- 
ing that  the  hardy  Vikings  of  the  north  were  the  first 
Europeans  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  New  World.  They  were 
of  the  same  blood  as  the  bold  Northmen  who  overran  Eng- 
land in  successive  invasions  and  finally  established  them- 


6  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

selves  there  as  rulers  of  the  land,  near  the  time  when  Leif 
made  his  famous  voyage  to  Vinland.* 

Interesting  as  these  discoveries  may  be,  they  are  of  little 
historic  importance,  inasmuch  as  the  people  of  Europe 
Norse  dis-  were  no^  reacty  either  to  receive  the  idea  of  a 

coveries  new  world  or  to  act  upon  it.     The  discovery 

unimportant.  by  Columbus  five  hundred  years  later  came 
upon  the  full  flood-tide  of  events,  in  response  to  industrial 
needs ;  it  found  the  people  eager  for  new  tidings,  and  in  a 
condition  to  appreciate  in  part  the  meaning  of  what  was 
done  and  to  reap  advantage  from  the  opening  of  new  con- 
tinents. 

The  movement  that  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica was  due  to  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  enthusiasm  at 
the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.     For  some  cen- 

T  e  Renais-  turies  the  condition  and  character  of  life  in 
sance. 

Europe   had  been   undergoing   change.     Men 

were  stirring  to  take  a  broader  and  more  intelligent  interest 
in  themselves  and  their  surroundings.  The  period  from 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  is  called  the  "  Renaissance,"  or  the  new 
birth,  although  sometimes  the  word  is  applied  to  a  some- 
what shorter  period,  and  used  to  indicate  the  development 
of  new  interest  in  literature  and  art.f     The  crusades  for 

*  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America,  vol.  i,  pp.  148-221 ;  Bryant  and 
Gay,  Popular  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i,  pp.  35-63,  are  the 
most  readable  of  the  accounts  of  the  Norse  discoveries.  See  especially 
Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  31,  containing  the  Voyage  to  Vinland ;  American 
History  Leaflets,  No.  3,  containing  Extracts  from  the  Sagas ;  Hart, 
American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  pp.  28-35. 

f  "  The  term  Renaissance  is  frequently  applied  at  present  not  only 
to  the  new  birth  of  art  and  letters,  but  to  all  the  characteristics,  taken 
together,  of  the  period  of  transition  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  modern 
life.  The  transformation  in  the  structure  and  policy  of  states,  the  pas- 
sion for  discovery,  the  dawn  of  a  more  scientific  method  of  observing 
man  and  Nature,  the  movement  toward  more  freedom  of  intellect  and 
of  conscience,  are  part  and  parcel  of  one  comprehensive  change — a 


DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION.  7 

the  conquest  of  the  Holy  City  had  aroused  men  to  new 
speculation  and  thought,  and  had  helped  to  bring  about  a 
more  reasonable  political  situation,  because  they  tended  to 
break  down  the  feudal  system  and  to  do  away  with  some  of 
its  evils.  Each  European  state  became  more  strongly 
knitted  together  and  more  competent  for  action  as  the 
feudal  baron  lost  his  power.  Moreover,  the  revival  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  classics  encouraged  freer  and 
higher  thinking.  About  1450  the  art  of  printing  was  in- 
vented, and  this  gave  a  channel  for  communicating  new 
thoughts  and  ideas  and  announcing  new  discoveries  and 
inventions.  The  times  were  marked  by  an  outburst  of  com- 
mercial enterprise,  by  a  zeal  for  a  wider  trade,  and  by  a 
fresh  interest  in  travel  and  discovery. 

For  many  centuries  the  people  of  Europe  and  Asia  had 
carried  on  trade  with  one  another,  and  the  general  effect  of 

the  crusades  was  to  increase  this  traffic.  Genoa 
£»BiSrWtth    a^d  Venice  became  great  seats  of  commerce 

and  grew  rich  in  their  traffic  with  the  far  East. 
Europe  used  more  and  more  of  the  silks  and  spices  of  the 
Orient,  and  these  commodities  became  necessities  to  the 
people.  There  were  three  routes  of  travel :  one  by  way  of 
the  Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian ;  another  through  Syria  and 
the  Persian  Gulf;  the  third  by  the  way  of  the  Ked  Sea. 
But  toward  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  Ottoman  Turks 
began  to  press  forward  in  Asia  Minor  and  to  block  the 
routes  of  travel,  checking  or  making  dangerous  the  way  to 
the  East.  In  1453  Constantinople  fell  into  their  hands,  and 
commerce  in  that  direction  was  ended.  Turkish  corsairs 
frequented  the  waters  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  and 
Europe  saw  herself  in  danger  of  being  cut  off  entirely  from 
the  longed-for  wealth  of  u  India  and  Cathay."  * 

change  which  even  now  has  not  reached  its  goal."  (Fisher,  Outlines  of 
Universal  History,  p.  387.) 

*  Cathay  was  the  name  by  which  China  was  known  in  Europe. 
India  was  a  very  indefinite  term. 
2 


8  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Although  this  commerce  with  the  Orient  was  not  small 
and  had  lasted  for  many  years,  yet  in  the  fifteenth  century 

the  people  of  Europe  knew  little  of  India  or 
E^st,8  on  *  e       China,  since  the  traffic  was  in  general  carried  on 

through  middlemen.  Accounts  of  the  far  East 
had  been  written  by  travelers,  and  some  of  them  seem  to 
have  had  influence  in  arousing  interest  in  those  regions. 
Chief  among  these  narratives  was  the  work  of  Marco  Polo, 
an  Italian  traveler,  who  spent  many  years  in  China,  and, 
returning  to  Europe,  recounted  strange  stories  of  the  wealth 
and  glories  of  the  Great  Khan.  He  described  not  only 
China,  but  India,  and  made  mention  of  Japan  *  and  Java. 
This  famous  book  was  one  of  the  greatest  single  contribu- 
tions ever  made  to  geographical  knowledge.  Its  descrip- 
tions have  been  found  to  be,  on  the  whole,   remarkably 

correct.     In  the  next  century  after  Marco  Polo 

wrote  his  book,  appeared  the  "Voyage  and 
Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville."  Such  a  man-as  the  famous 
Sir  John  probably  never  existed  in  the  flesh,  any  more  than 
did  Robinson  Crusoe.  The  stories  of  which  he  was  the  hero 
were  taken  bodily  from  other  writers ;  but  the  doughty 
knight,  real  or  fictitious,  was  a  perfect  prince  among  story- 
tellers and  was  a  very  actual  person  to  the  men  of  that  day, 
who  read  with  eagerness  the  fascinating  tales  of  the  mar- 
velous East.  He  told  of  pillars  of  gold  and  precious  stones 
half  a  foot  in  length,  of  golden  birds  that  clapped  their 
wings  by  magic,  of  golden  vines  laden  with  costly  jewels, 
of  the  fountain  of  youth  whose  waters,  if  one  drink  them 
thrice,  would  make  one  ever  young. f 

*  Japan  had  the  name  Chipangu  or  Cipango  in  Marco  Polo's  book. 
As  we  shall  see,  Columbus  thought  that  he  had  reached  it,  and  at  one 
time  thought  that  Hayti  was  the  famous  land,  where  the  lord  of 
the  island  had  'a  great  palace  which  is  entirely  roofed  with  fine 
gold.  .  .  .  Moreover,  all  the  pavement  of  the  palace,  and  the  floors  of 
its  chambers,  are  entirely  of  gold  in  plates  like  slabs  of  stone,  a  good 
two  fingers  thick." 

f  "  1,  John  Mandeville,"  says  the  old  impostor,  "  saw  this  well  and 


DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION. 


9 


Eager  to  know  a  way  to  the  East  that  would  be  free 
from  the  dangers  of  the  robber  Turk,  men  had  been  turn- 
ing their  thoughts  to  new  routes.  Much  was 
TxpEions.  done  by  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal  who  won 
for  himself  the  title  of  "  Henry  the  Navigator." 
An  earnest  and  enthusiastic  student  of  geography  and  as- 
tronomy, he  devoted  his  life  to  directing  voyages  of  discov- 
ery and  exploration  along  the   western  coast  of  Africa. 


Building  a  Ship  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

Year  after  year  daring  Portuguese  sailors  in  their  little 
ships  crept  farther  and  farther  southward,  and  returned  to 
announce  to  the  great  navigator  the  results  of  their  expedi- 
tions. Henry  died  in  1460 ;  but  Portugal  continued  to  be 
the  home  of  bold  and  progressive  mariners,  and  the  air  was 


drank  thereof  thrice,  and  all  my  fellows,  and  evermore  since  that  time 
I  feel  that  I  am  better  and  haler."  Marco  Polo's  Travels  were  written 
in  1299  in  the  prison  at  Genoa.  Read  Marco  Polo's  Account  of  Japan 
and  Java,  in  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  32. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Mandeville  declares  that  "  men  may  well  per- 
ceive that  the  land  and  sea  are  of  round  shape  and  form,"  and  that 
he  tells  of  a  man  who  wandered  quite  around  the  earth  and  returned 
to  his  own  home  again. 


10  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

filled  with  stories  of  discovery  and  plans  for  further  achieve- 
ment. At  the  very  end  of  the  century  (1497)  Vasco  da 
Gama  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  made  his  way  to 
the  harbor  of  Calicut,*  and  returned  with  a  cargo  of  the 
coveted  spices  and  jewels  of  India. 

From  the  dawn  of  history  the  nations  of  Europe  had 
stood  with  their  backs  to  the  Atlantic.  The  Mediterranean 
was  to  them  the  center  of  the  earth.  The  voy- 
ages and  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese  navi- 
gators brought  new  knowledge  of  strange  coasts  and  helped 
to  drive  away  from  men's  minds  the  great  fear  of  the  Sea 
of  Darkness,  which  was  supposed  to  contain  all  kinds  of 
dreadful  monsters  and  threaten  all  sorts  of  fearful  dangers. 
Europe  began  to  face  about  and  to  look  out  upon  the  great 
western  ocean,  whose  coast  had  for  so  many  centuries  been 
the  limit  of  the  civilized  world. 

Thus  the  mariners  of  Portugal  found  a  new  way  to  the 
Indies ;  but  before  they  were  successful  in  finding  this 
southern  route,  Columbus  made  his  great  effort 
to  reach  the  East  by  way  of  the  West,  finding 
not  the  land  he  sought,  but  discovering  a  new  world  whose 
treasures  in  the  course  of  years  filled  the  coffers  of  Spain  to 
overflowing.  Both  the  time  and  place  of  Columbus's  birth 
are  uncertain.  The  probability  is  that  Genoa  was  his  birth- 
place. Certainly  he  spent  his  early  years  there,  when  ho 
was  not  upon  the  sea.  We  may  select  the  year  144G  as 
most  likely  to  be  the  correct  date  of  his  birth,  f 

*  Not  Calcutta. 

f  The  keenest  investigators  place  the  date  between  the  25th  of 
March,  1446,  and  the  20th  of  March,  1447.  An  interesting  sketch  of 
Columbus  will  be  found  in  Adams's  Christopher  Columbus.  The 
account  in  Fiske's  The  Discovery  of  America,  chap,  v,  is  enter- 
taining. Many  fascinating  pages  will  be  found  in  Irving's  Life  of 
Columbus.  The  great  critical  authority  is  Justin  Winsor's  Christo- 
pher Columbus.  See  also  Life  of  Christopher  Columbus,  by  Clements 
R.  Markham. 


DISCOVERY    AND  EXPLORATION.  H 

His  early  education  was  not  entirely  neglected,  but  it 
was  neither  broad  nor  thorough.     He  acquired  a  reading 


The  Earliest  Engraved  Likeness  of  Christopher  Columbus. 

knowledge  of  Latin  and  became  a  good  penman.     He  was 
early  interested  in  the  study  of  geography,  and 

Education.  J     ,     ,    .    ,  ,      ,J         B    ,8  /  f' 

somewhat  later  seems  to  have  gained  skill  as 
a  maker  of  maps  and  charts,  for  he  himself  says  :  "God 
hath  given  me  a  genius  and  hands  apt  to  draw  his  globe, 


12  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

and  on  it  the  cities,  rivers,  islands,  and  ports — all  in  their 
proper  places."  Even  before  reaching  manhood  he  entered 
upon  a  seafaring  career,  and  seems  to  have  taken  part  in 
ventures  of  a  turbulent  if  not  piratical  nature.*  He  be- 
came a  bold  seaman  and  navigator,  and  there  is  some  evi- 
dence that  in  one  voyage  he  sailed  even  as  far  as  Iceland,  a 
fact  which  has  made  some  persons  believe  that  he  gained 
from  these  Northmen  a  knowledge  of  lands  in  the  western 
ocean.  He  went  to  live  in  Portugal  about  1473,  and  there 
began  to  take  consuming  interest  in  the  new  discoveries 
and  in  the  search  for  a  new  route  to  the  Indies. 

For  some  years  he  was  engaged  in  various  commercial 

enterprises  ;  but  he  also  read  and  studied,  and  became  con- 

.  .  vinced  that  great  discoveries  were  to  be  made 

out  upon  the  Sea  of  Darkness,  the  great  Atlan- 
tic, whose  terrors  still,  in  spite  of  the  daring  achievements  of 
the  Portuguese,  held  men  in  dread  and  awe.  Columbus 
came  to  the  belief  that  the  shortest  and  best  way  to  reach 
the  East  was  to  sail  west,  and  he  gave  himself  up  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  purpose. 

At  that  time  people  generally  believed  the  earth  to  be  a 
great  plane,  a  vast  flat  surface.     With  the  exception  of  the 

information  given  to  the  world  by  Marco  Polo, 
onVeP5ty     few   important   additions   had   been   made   to 

geographical  knowledge  for  a  thousand  years. 
The  famous  map  of  Claudius  Ptolemy,  made  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century,  fairly  represented  the  general 
idea  concerning  the  earth  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  We  must  not  think,  however,  that  the  belief  in 
the  earth's  roundness,  or  the  idea  that  India  lay  to  the  west 
of  Spain,  was  original  with  Columbus.  He  carried  the 
thought  into  action ;  he  had  the  needed  courage  and  per- 
sistency; he  had  the  steadfast  and  enduring  faith.     But 

*  "  There  was  a  spice  of  piracy  even  in  the  soberest  ventures  of  com- 
merce "  (Winsor's  Columbus,  p.  81). 


DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION. 


13 


the  belief  that  the  earth  was  a  sphere  was  a  very  old  one. 
Aristotle,  the  great  Greek  philosopher,  who  lived  in  the 
fourth  century  before  Christ,  spoke  of  this  idea  as  if  it 
were  not  new,  and  gave,  himself,  substantial  grounds  for 
holding  it.*  Other  ancient  writers  mentioned  the  thought, 
and  it  did  not  die  out  among  learned  men  even  in  the  Middle 


Sketch  of  the  Ptolemy  Map.| 

Ages.  With  the  revival  of  learning  it  once  more  appeared 
in  published  writings,  and  Columbus  seems  to  have  eagerly 
scanned  and  pondered  these  pages. 

Shortly  after  going  to  Portugal,  when  Columbus  was 

hardly  thirty  years  of  age,  he  obtained  a  letter  from  a  famous 

Florentine  astronomer  named  Toscanelli.     It 

letter116    *        was  *n  large  Part  a  C0PV  °^  a  letter  sent  by 
Toscanelli  to  a  man  at  the  Portuguese  court, 
who  had  written  at  the  request  of  the  king  to  obtain  the  opin- 
ion of  the  great  astronomer  on  the  subject  of  the  shortest 


*  "  Wherefore,"  says  Aristotle,  "  we  may  judge  that  those  persons 
who  connect  the  region  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules 
with  that  toward  India,  and  who  assert  that  in  this  way  the  sea  is  one, 
do  not  assert  things  very  improbable." 

f  This  is  only  a  simplified  sketch  of  the  Ptolemy  map. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION.  15 

route  to  the  Indies.  This  was  one  of  the  most  important 
letters  ever  written,  for  it  contained  quite  positive  assurances 
that  the  earth  was  round,  and  that  the  way  to  India  was  west- 
ward across  the  Atlantic.  "  And  do  not  wonder,"  said  the 
letter,  "  at  my  calling  west  the  parts  where  the  spices  are, 
whereas  they  are  commonly  called  east,  because  to  persons 
sailing  persistently  westward  those  parts  will  be  found  by 

courses  on  the  under  side  of  the  earth."    Tosca- 

nelli  sent  a  chart  also,  and  Columbus  used  this 
as  a  guide  in  his  great  undertaking.  Now,  fortunately,  this 
chart  was  far  wrong  in  one  particular.  Although  the  size 
of  the  earth  was  given  not  far  from  right,  Asia  was  so  ex- 
tended that  the  coast  of  China,  or  Cathay,  was  put  about 
where  the  Gulf  of  California  really  is,  and  Cipangu,  or 
Japan,  east  of  Mexico.  To  reach  Asia,  therefore,  seemed 
not  such  an  insurmountable  task  as  would  have  been  the 
case  had  the  coast  of  China  occupied  on  the  map  its  real 
position.  Moreover,  Toscanelli  placed  on  the  chart  certain 
mythical  islands  *  which  he  thought  existed.  "  So,"  said 
he,  "  through  the  unknown  parts  of  the  route  the  stretches 
of  sea  to  be  traversed  are  not  great." 

Columbus  was  now  wholly  given  up  to  the  idea  of  find- 
ing India  across  the  Atlantic.     He  tried  for  years  to  obtain 

assistance  and  authority  for  the  task.  He  ap- 
seekraid  plied  for  aid  to  the  monarchs  of  Portugal  and 

Spain,  and  seems  to  have  sent  his  brother  to 
London  to  seek  aid  at  the  court  of  England.  Success 
finally  came  to  reward  his  patience  and  persistence.  Ar- 
rangements were  made  for  the  expedition  with  the  help 
and  encouragement  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain. 

On  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  three  vessels  started  on  a 
momentous  voyage  in  search  of  the  spices  and  gold  of  the 
East  by  way  of  the  West.  The  largest  vessel,  the  Santa 
Maria,  "  a  dull  vessel,"  we  are  told,  "  and  unfit  for  discov- 

*  See  on  the  map  St.  Brandan's  Jnsel  and  Antilia 


16  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ery,"  was  Columbus's  flag-ship.     According  to  modern  esti- 
mates, made  from  descriptions  of  her  size,  she  was  not  much 
over  sixty-three  feet  in  length  and  twenty  in 
His  first  width.     The  Pinta,  commanded  by  Martin  Pin- 

voyage.  '  * 

zon,  and  the  Xina,  commanded  by  Vincente 
Pinzon,  were  still  smaller,  and  without  decks  amidships. 
The  little  fleet  set  sail  to  the  Canaries,  remained  there  for 
a  time,  and  early  in  September  stood  boldly  forth  on  the 
waste  of  unknown  waters.  As  the  weeks  went  by  the  sea- 
men lost  patience,  but  the  courage  of  Columbus  did  not 
wane.  "  The  people  could  endure  no  longer ;  they  com- 
plained of  the  length  of  the  voyage.  But  the  admiral 
cheered  them  .  .  .  the  best  way  he  could,  giving  them  good 
hopes  of  the  advantages  they  might  gain  from  it.  He 
added  that,  however  much  they  might  complain,  he  had  to 
go  to  the  Indies,  and  that  he  would  go  on  until  he  found 
them,  with  the  help  of  our  Lord."  * 

Land  was  discovered  early  in  the  morning  of  the  12th 
of  October.  Columbus  disembarked  and  "  took  possession 
of  the  island  for  the  king  and  queen."  f  He 
had  not  discovered  India  or  China,  as  we  well 
know,  but  had  come  upon  an  outlying  island  of  a  new  con- 
tinent, a  world  inhabited  by  barbarous  and  savage  men, 
without  the  marble  palaces  and  the  golden  wonders  de- 
scribed by  Marco  Polo  and  Mandeville.  Columbus,  how- 
ever, believed  that  he  had  reached  the   Indies.      Before 

*  This  quotation  is  from  the  journal  of  Columbus,  which  has  not 
been  preserved  in  its  original  form,  but  was  abridged  by  Las  Casas, 
who  wrote  a  great  book  on  the  History  of  the  Indies  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  was  himself  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  the  day.  The 
student  will  be  interested  in  With  the  Admiral  of  the  Ocean  Sea,  by 
Mackie.  P.  L.  Ford,  Writings  of  Columbus,  can  be  read  with  profit. 
The  journal  is  printed  in  the  Hakluyt  Society  Publications,  and  is 
edited  by  C.  R.  Markham. 

f  Upon  which  one  of  the  Bahamas  Columbus  first  landed  is  not 
known.  The  weight  of  authority  is  now  in  favor  of  Watling's  Island. 
See  Adams's  Columbus,  p.  88,  where  the  evidence  is  summarized. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION. 


17 


returning,  the  voyagers  visited  other  islands,  discovering 
Hayti  and  Cuba.      Early  in  1493  Columbus   set   sail   for 


2©cearoca| 


From  the  Letter  to  Sanxis,  1493. 

The  pictures  contained  in  the  published  letter  are  supposed  to  have  been 

made  after  drawings  by  Columbus. 

home,  and    after   various    adventures    reached    Spain  in 
Bafety,  where    he   was    received    with   triumphal    honors 


18  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

as  the  discoverer  of  a  new  route  to  the  riches  of  the  far 
East.* 

The  bold  explorer  made  three   other  voyages,  always 

hoping  to  find  the  wealth  and  glories  of  Cathay.     On  his 

second    voyage    he    established    a    colony   in 

Slcoveries,         HaytLt     0n  his  third  (1498)  he  discovered  the 
mainland  of  South  America,  but  he  still  sup- 
posed the  land  to  be  part  of  Asia,  or  in  the  near  neighbor- 
hood of  the  wished-for  places.     Shortly  after  returning  from 
his  fourth  expedition  he  died  (1506)  in  Spain, 
neglected,  poor,   and  broken-hearted ;  for  he 
found  little  favor  with  the  people  when  it  was  seen  that 
he  had  not  brought  them  the  gold  and  jewels  and  precious 
fabrics  of  the  Orient,  but  had  "  discovered  the  lands  of  de- 
ceit and  disappointment — a  place  of  sepulchres  and  wretch- 
edness to  Spanish  hidalgos." 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  desire  of  Europe 

was  not  to  discover  a  new  continent,  but  to  reach  Asia. 

Men  believed    that    the    new  discoveries   lay 

Desire  to  along  the  coast  of  China,  and  the  idea  only 

reach  Asia.  °  '  J 

gradually  took  hold  of  them  that  the  lands 
out  in  the  western  ocean  were  parts  of  a  new  continent. 
South  America,  which  became  known  in  rough  outline  be- 
fore the  northern  continent  was  well  known,  was  supposed 
to  be  a  new  island  or  a  projection  from  Asia ;  and  after  the 
coast  line  quite  well  to  the  north  was  put  down  on  maps 
and  charts,  the  hope  of  many  voyagers  was  to  get  around 
these  troublesome  barriers  or  through  them,  and  to  find 
their  way  to  the  coveted  riches  of  India.  Even  after  Euro- 
pean settlements  were  made  in  the  new  land  there  were 
many  patient  explorations  of  bays  and  rivers  in  hopes  of 

*  Columbus's  own  account  of  his  discovery  will  be  found  in  his 
letter  to  Santangel.  It  is  published  in  American  History  Leaflets, 
No.  1. 

f  Columbus  left  some  men  on  the  island  on  his  first  voyage,  but 
found  only  ruins  of  their  houses  and  fort  when  he  returned. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION.  19 

finding  a  thoroughfare.  Slowly,  through  the  process  of 
decades,  the  Western  World  was  uncovered  and  opened  up 
to  be  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  known  geography  of  the 
earth. 

Before  Columbus  completed  his  four  voyages  other  im- 
portant discoveries  had  been  made.  In  1497  the  mainland 
of  North  America  was  discovered  by  an  expedi- 
tion sailing  from  Bristol,  England.  The  leader 
of  this  expedition  was  John  Cabot.  His  son  Sebastian 
may  have  accompanied  him.  The  land  first  seen  by  them 
was  Cape  Breton,  or  Labrador.*  An  entry  in  the  privy 
purse  of  shrewd  Henry  VII  notes  that  £10  were  given  "  hym 
that  founde  the  new  isle  " — not  a  magnificent  gift  in  light 
of  the  fact  that  upon  this  voyage  of  the  Cabots  England 
later  based  her  claim  to  the  whole  continent  of  North 
America.  Cabot  also  received  a  small  pension,  charged 
upon  the  revenues  of  the  port  of  Bristol.  The  following 
year  he  seems  to  have  started  upon  another  voyage,  but 
nothing  more  is  known  of  him.f 

There  is  some  reason  for  believing  that  the  mainland  of 
South  America  was  first  visited  by  an  expedition  that  set 

*  The  date  generally  given  for  this  first  sight  of  the  main  coast 
of  North  America  is  the  24th  of  June.  Possibly,  as  recent  investiga- 
tions seem  to  show,  the  discovery  was  even  earlier  than  this.  There 
is  some  difference  of  opinion,  too,  as  to  whether  the  landfall  was 
Cape  Breton,  or  Labrador.  Some  of  the  uncertainties  are  well  put  in 
Mr.  Winsor's  words :  "  If  we  believe  Sebastian's  own  words  as  reported, 
he  accompanied  his  father  on  his  first  and  second  voyages.  If  we 
believe  contemporary  witnesses,  and  some  are  bitterly  reproachful  in 
their  negatives,  Sebastian  was  never  on  the  coast  of  North  America  at 
all "  ( Winsor,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
November  18, 1896).  See  for  the  Cabots,  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  vol.  iii,  pp.  1-7;  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  1-16. 

f  Contemporary  accounts  of  the  Cabot  voyage  in  Hart,  American 
History  told  by  Contemporaries,  vol.  i,  pp.  69-71.  There  is  some  evi- 
dence that  Cabot  returned  from  the  second  voyage. 


20  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

sail  from  Cadiz,  May  10,  1497.     Americus  Vespucius,*  a 

Florentine  merchant  and  traveler,  speaks  of  this  voyage, 

in  which  he  claims  to  have  taken  part,  and 

Vespucins.  sa^s  ^na^  "  a^  ^ne  en(^  °^  twenty-seven  days  " 
they  came  "  upon  a  coast  which  we  thought  to 
be  that  of  a  continent."  If  such  a  voyage  and  such  discov- 
eries were  made,  then  these  navigators,  and  not  the  Cabots 
or  Columbus,  were  the  first  since  the  Northmen  to  see 
the  mainland  of  the  new  world.  Concerning  these  matters 
students  disagree,  but  many  of  the  most  learned  believe 
that  Vespucius  never  made  this  voyage,  and  is  chargeable 
with  willful  deceit.  That  he  did  make  later  important  dis- 
coveries, however,  is  beyond  question.  In  1501  he  sailed 
along  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America,  and 
new  world"  &  then,  driven  by  violent  gales,  went  far  into  the 
southern  seas,  probably  even  to  the  Island  of 
Georgia,  a  land  not  rediscovered  until  nearly  three  cen- 
turies afterward.  Within  a  short  time  he  made  still  another 
voyage  to  the  southern  continent.  Even  if  he  did  make 
the  voyage  of  1497,  it  was  these  later  explorations,  and  not 
the  early  one,  that  gave  him  fame,  for  he  wrote  a  short 
description  of  what  he  had  seen,  and  his  accounts  of  far- 
off  lands  that  were  new  and  strange  were  eagerly  read  by 
those  who  looked  upon  Columbus  as  the  unfortunate  dis- 
coverer of  an  insalubrious  archipelago  upon  the  coast  of 
Asia.  His  story,  written  in  a  private  letter,  was  printed  f 
and  widely  circulated.  In  1507  a  young  German  professor, 
living  at  St.  Die,  in  the  Vosges  Mountains,  published  a 
little  volume  on  geography,  and  with  it  some  letters  of 
Vespucius,  and  suggested  that,  inasmuch  as  a  fourth  part 

*  This  is  the  Latin  form  of  the  name.  In  Italian  it  is  Americo  or 
Amerigo  Vespucci.  , 

f  In  his  letter  Vespucius  spoke  in  wonder  of  what  he  saw  on  the 
Brazilian  coast,  and  said,  "Novum  mundum  appellare  licet" — one 
might  call  it  a  new  world.  This  letter,  when  published,  bore  the  title 
Novus  Mundus. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION.  21 

of  the  earth  had  been  discovered  by  Americus,  it  be  called 
America.*     This  name  came  into  general  use  only  slowly, 

Nuc  tfo  Sc  Jig  partes  funt  latius  lu(lrat^/&:  alia 
quartapars  per  Americu  Vefputiu(vt  in  fequenri 
bus  audietur  )inuenta  eft/qua  non  video  cur  quis 
iure  vetet  ab  Americo  inuentore  fagacis  ingenr)  vi 
AmeriV  ro  Amerigen  quafi  Americi  terra  /  fiue  Americam 
ca  dicendatcu  Sc  Europa  Sc  Afia  a  mulieribus  fua  for 

tita  fintnomina.Eius  fitu  Sc  gentis  mores  ex  bis  bi 
nis  Americi  nauigationibus  quae  fequuntliquide 
intelligidatur. 

Facsimile  of  the  Sentence  in  which  America  was  first  named, 
from  the  Cosmography  Introductio,  1507. 

being  applied  first  to  the  unknown  lands,  "  the  New  World  " 
on  the  south,  and  then  given  to  both  continents.! 

In  1519  Ferdinand  Magellan  started  upon  a  great  and 
eventful  voyage.     He  discovered  the  straits  that  bear  his 

name,  and,  passing  boldly  through,  crossed  the 
SjSjJ  broad  Pacific  and  reached  the  East  Indies,  thus 

actually  doing  what  Columbus  had  failed  to  do. 
Magellan  himself  was  killed  in  the  Philippine  Islands ;  but 
one  of  his  vessels,  with  a  remnant  of  her  crew,  sailed  to 
Spain,  completing  the  first  circumnavigation  of  the  globe. 
Judged  by  its  results,  this  voyage  was  not  so  important  as 
many  others,  but  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  feats  of  bold 

*  In  another  place  is  the  same  suggestion:  "But  now  these  parts 
have  been  more  extensively  explored,  and  .  .  .  another  fourth  part  has 
been  discovered.  .  .  .  Wherefore  I  do  not  see  what  is  rightly  to  hinder 
us  from  calling  it  after  its  discoverer,  Americus,  a  man  of  sagacious 
mind,  Amerige — i.  e.,  the  land  of  Americus,  or  America,  since  both 
Europe  and  Asia  have  got  their  names  from  women." 

f  For  Vespucius,  see  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of 
America,  vol.  ii,  chap.  ii.  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  25- 
175,  especially  pp.  97-105.  On  the  naming  of  America,  Winsor,  ibid., 
pp.  164-169:  Fiske,  ibid.,  pp.  107-117,  125-140.  T 


22 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


navigation  in  history.     It  shows  how  much  had  been  clone 
in  this  wonderful  era  in  the  course  of  a  few  years ;  for,  fifty 


Western  Half  of  Lenox  Globe.* 

years  before,  the  Portuguese  seamen  had  sailed  hardly  more 
than  halfway  down  the  western  coast  of  Africa. 


*  This  map  follows  a  sketch  given  in  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  170  (by  permission  of  the  publishers, 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.).  It  is  the  part  of  a  globe  made  about  1510  or 
1511,  now  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York.     It  shows  the  Mundus 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION.  23 

While  for  nearly  a  century  after  the  discovery  of  America 
other  nations  did  little  to  get  possession  of  dominions  in 
the  New  World,  Spain  entered  eagerly  into  the 
Spanish  task.      Settlements   were   made    in   the   West 

Indies,  and  bold  adventurers  made  long  journeys 
into  the  interior  of  the  continents  looking  for  the  fabulous 
riches  of  Cathay.     Ponce  de  Leon,  seeking  the  fountain  of 
perpotual  youth,  explored  Florida,  "  the  land  of  Easter."  * 
Balboa,    from    a   peak    in    Darien,   looked   out   upon   the 
waters  of  the  great  Pacific.     Somewhat  later 
Pineda  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  called  it  the  Rio  de  Santo  Espiritu,  the  River  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.     In  1539-'42  De  Soto  made  his  famous  march 
through    the   southern   part  of   what  is  now  the  United 
States.     About  the  same  time  Coronado,  start- 
ing in  search  of  the  fabulous  "  seven  cities  of 
Cibola,"  wandered  over  the  dreary  plains  and  through  the 
mountain  defiles  of  the  southwest.     These  explorations  ac- 
complished little,  but  in  Central  and  South  America  the 
Spanish  soldiers  won  a  great  and  wealthy  empire;   Her- 
nando  Cortes   conquered   Mexico    (1519-'21) ; 
jjnd.  .  the  Pizarros  conquered  Peru  (1531-'34).     In 

15G5  a  settlement  was  made  at  St.  Augustine, 
the  first  European  settlement  within  the  future  limits  of 
the  United  States. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Spain  occupied  the  islands  of 
the  West  Indies  and  the  semicivilized  countries  of  the  two 
continents.  The  Indians  of  the  islands  were 
Character  of  timid,  and  incapable  of  resisting  the  cruel 
Spanish  soldiers ;  the  people  of  Mexico  and 
Peru  were  not  able  to  unite  effectively  against  the  invaders ; 
and  so  the  power  of  Spain  was  established  with  little  diffi- 

Novus  of  Vespucius  as  an  island  southeast  of  Zipangri  (Japan).     Other 
interesting  maps  will  be  found  in  Winsor,  vol.  ii. 

*  Ponce  de  Leon  saw  Florida  on  Easter  Day.    In  Spanish  this  day  is 
Pascua  Florida,  the  flowery  passover. 
3 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

culty,  and  she  became  possessed  of  a  great  subject  empire 
in  the  New  World  from  which  came  gold  and  silver  in 
abundance.*  To  govern  such  an  empire  her  character 
and  her  condition  fitted  her.  But  the  Spaniard  showed  no 
skill  in  making  permanent,  self-reliant  settlements,  that 
had  within  them  the  power  of  natural  development  and 
growth.  In  this,  as  we  shall  see,  the  Spanish  differed  from 
the  English,  who  simply  made  in  America  new  homes  for 
Englishmen,  where  their  old  ideas  and  customs  might  de- 
velop freely — where,  in  fact,  in  many  ways  a  new  England 
might  grow  up. 

After  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  the  Pope, 
Alexander  VI,  issued  two  bulls,  dividing  the  heathen  lands 
Th  h  11  f  °^  ^ne  wor^  between  Portugal  and  Spain, 
demarcation,  These  gave  to  Spain  all  she  might  discover 
1493.  wes£   0f   a  jjne   drawn   one   hundred  leagues 

west  of  the  Azores  and  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  The  next 
year  the  two  powers  entered  into  an  agreement,  in  accord- 

*  The  Spaniards  were  moved  by  three  great  purposes :  the  gathering 
of  gold  and  jewels,  the  establishment  of  dominion,  and  the  winning 
of  souls  to  the  Church.  The  first  two  of  these  objects  were  accom- 
plished, but  the  Spanish  soldiers,  in  their  greed  for  gold,  seemed  to 
forget  the  mission  of  the  cross.  See  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  His- 
tory of  America,  vol.  ii,  chap,  v ;  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America,  vol. 
ii,  pp.  444-481.  

The  Mercator  Map  of  1541. 
This  map  shows  the  word  America  applied  to  both  the  northern 
and  southern  continents.  It  was  long  supposed  to  be  the  very  first,  but 
quite  recently  another  map  (also  by  Mercator)  has  been  discovered  that 
was  made  three  years  earlier.  Mercator  was  the  wisest  geographer  of 
the  time,  and  showed  a  truly  wonderful  power  of  interpreting  the  re- 
ports of  travelers  and  explorers  and  of  divining  the  truth.  The  map 
as  here  given  follows  a  sketch  made  by  Mr.  Winsor  himself,  and  repro- 
duced in  his  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  177 
(by  permission  of  the  publishers,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.).  The  original 
map  is  on  gores.  For  an  example  of  this  method  of  making  maps,  see 
Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  120. 


The  Mercator  Map  of  1541. 


2G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Bnce  with  which  the  dividing  line  should  be  three  hundred 
and  seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.     Upon 


ehmmoo^ebaoefaibicrto  feffcUgcna;  6i30lal> 


ape  que  t>i3icron  los  catho\\coe>  tfeye&xxetyaiwi 


The  Western  Half  of  the  Eibero  Map,  1529,  showing  the  Routes 
of  Columbus  and  the  Line  of  Demarcation. 


this  agreement,  duly  ratified  by  the  Pope,  Spain  based  her 
claim  to  the  New  World. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION. 


27 


References. 

Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  Chapters  I  and  II ;  Fisher,  The  Colonial 
Era,  pp.  1-20;  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America,  Volume  I,  espe- 
cially Chapters  I,  II,  III,  V,  VIII,  IX,  and  X;  Iligginson,  The  Larger 
History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapters  I,  II,  and  III. 
Longer  accounts :  Markham,  Christopher  Columbus ;  Adams,  Chris- 
topher Columbus. 


v* 


* % 


p 


» 


^ 


Uill 


The  House  at  Valladolid  where  Columbus  died. 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Southern  Colonies— 1607-1700. 

VIRGINIA. 

England  was  not  ready  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  to  enter  into  competition  for  the  New  World  ;  she 
t,    ,    :■ .   ,,.      was  not  ready  for  that  outburst  of  energy  which 

England  in  the  J  .  -r.  ^ 

sixteenth  made  her  the  successful  rival  of  France  and 

centnry.  Spain  and  the  greatest  colonizing  nation  of  the 

world.  The  Tudors,  then  on  the  throne,  governed  England 
sternly  but  well ;  order  was  brought  out  of  the  confusion 
that  came  as  the  old  feudal  system  disappeared  ;  the  mid- 
dle classes  of  society  were  given  opportunity  for  growth  and 
betterment ;  and  the  foundations  were  laid  for  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  years  to  come.  But  not  until  toward  the 
end  of  the  century  did  the  English  people  take  part  in  the 
contest  for  empire  in  America.  They  were  not  yet,  in  the 
days  of  Henry  VIII,  prepared  to  reach  out  for  new  do- 
minions. 

The  French  accomplished  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of 
colonization  in  the  sixteenth  century.     Until  the  accession 
of  Henry  IV  (1589)  the  country  was  not  in  good 
sixteenth  condition  for  colonial  enterprise.     The  vitality 

century.  0f  the  nation  was  weakened  either  by  foreign 

wars  or  by  internal  strife.  The  fierce  contests  between 
Huguenots  and  Catholics  did  much  to  exhaust  its  energy. 
Nevertheless  French  seamen  did  something  in  discovery, 
and  a  few  unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  to  found  settle- 
ments in  America.  Hardly  was  the  New  World  known  to 
the  Old  when  the  hardy  fishermen  of  Brittany  began  to  visit 
28 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  29 

the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  Verrazano,*  in  1524,  sailed 
along  the  North  American  coast  from  North  Carolina  to 
Maine.  Ten  years  later  Jacques  Cartier,  a  jovial  and  roist- 
ering fellow,  explored  the  lower  part  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  the  next  year  visited  the  present  site  of  Montreal.  A 
few  years  after  this  (1542-'43)  an  attempt  was  made  to 
plant  a  colony  in  the  new-found  region,  but  without  success. 
The  Huguenots  sought  to  settle  in  Brazil,  but  the  effort 
ended  in  miserable  failure.  A  colony  formed  in  Florida  was 
destroyed  by  the  Spaniards  and  its  people  murdered  in  the 
cold-blooded  fashion  of  which  the  Spanish  soldier  of  the  day 
was  master,  f 

Thus  Spain,  unsuccessful  herself  in  obtaining  a  hold  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  save  in  the 
Eff  F  .  weak  outpost  at  St.  Augustine,  which  hardly  de- 
and  Spanish  served  the  name  of  a  colony,  did  succeed  in  pre- 
rivalry.  venting  the  French  from  settling  in  the  south, 

while  the  cold  winters  of  the  north  brought  disaster  to 
French  colonists  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  As  a  consequence, 
the  middle  Atlantic  coast  remained  to  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury free  from  settlements,  and  England  was  given  the 
chance  to  occupy  it  with  her  colonies. 

Not  till  the  beginning  of  the  next  century,  when  France 
was  inwardly  at  peace  under  the  sagacious  rule  of  Henry  IV, 
D  did  the  French  succeed  in  making  a  permanent 

Permanent  °       * 

French  settlement  in  America.     In  1G05  Port  Eoyal, 

colonies.  jn  Acadia,  was  founded,  and  three  years  later 

Champlain  founded  Quebec.  How  the  French  power  devel- 
oped in  Canada,  and  how  the  French  endeavored  to  extend 

*  Verrazano,  like  Columbus,  Cabot,  Vespucius,  was  an  Italian  by 
birth. 

f  Graphic  accounts  of  these  early  French  enterprises  will  be  found 
in  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  pp.  9-183.  Shorter 
accounts  will  be  found  in  Doyle,  The  English  in  America,  vol.  i  (Tho 
Southern  Colonies).  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  512- 
522. 


30  IIISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

their  sway  over  the  whole  interior  of  the  continent,  will  be 
told  in  a  later  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  here  that  Eng- 
land and  France  came  to  vie  with  each  other  for  dominion 
in  North  America ;  and  while  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  the  English  colonics  along  the  middle  Atlantic 
coast  were  growing  strong  and  vigorous,  the  French,  as  an 
ever-watchful,  zealous  enemy,  sought  to  check  the  progress 
of  their  rivals. 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  main  features  of  the  geo- 
graphical situation  should  be  kept  in  mind.  The  Spanish 
were  at  the  south;  the  French, after  lG05,were 
nation*  for  the  established  at  the  north;  the  middle  portion, 
possession  of  from  Maine  to  Florida,  was  unsettled  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeenth  century.  Into  this 
middle  portion  came  the  people  of  England,  and  the  Dutch 
and  Swedes  also.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  English,  Holland  and  Sweden  being  too 
weak  to  retain  their  hold  upon  it.  Then  began  a  contest 
between  France  and  England,  a  contest  for  wider  dominion, 
and  in  this  contest  England  was  successful.  Thus  by  the 
end  of  what  we  call  the  colonial  period  the  whole  of  North 
America*  was  possessed  by  two  nations,  England  and 
Spain. 

England  advanced  very  rapidly  in  wealth  and  prosper- 
ity under  the  strong,  kind  hand  of  Elizabeth,  and  became  a 
commercial  nation  of  no  mean  power.  During 
England  and  this  time  English  hostility  to  Spain  was  con- 
stantly growing  more  keen,  for  England  was 
now  firmly  Protestant  in  belief,  and  the  people  detested 
1'hilip  II,  who  stood  forth  as  the  champion  of  Eoman  Ca- 
tholicism. They  looked  upon  Spain  as  the  natural  enemy 
of  their  country,  and  the  brave  English  mariners  considered 
all  Spanish  commerce  fair  spoil.    These  bold  sea  dogs,  scorn- 

*  Possibly  an  exception  should  be  made.     Russia  had  already  done 
something  to  establish  a  claim  to  Alaska. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  31 

ing  the  threats  of  Philip  against  any  Protestant  who  should 
visit  the  seas  of  the  West  Indies,  lay  in  wait  for  galleons 
freighted  with  the  treasures  of  Mexico  and  Peru  and  robbed 
them  ruthlessly.  The  very  names  of  these  daring  and  in- 
comparable seamen  were  dreaded  in  the  settlements  of  the 
New  World.* 

Chief  among  these  seamen  was  Francis  Drake.  He  first 
carried  the  English  flag  into  the  Pacific.  Sailing  through 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  he  loaded  his  bark  with 
Sir  Francis  g0\^  anc[  siiVer  and  precious  jewels  from  Span- 
ish ships,  taking  from  one  alone  the  sum  of 
three  million  dollars. f  Passing  to  the  north,  he  reached 
the  coast  of  California  or  southern  Oregon  and  took  formal 
possession  of  the  region,  naming  it  New  Albion.  He  then 
crossed  the  Pacific  and  completed  the  second  navigation  of 
the  globe  (1577-'80).  Frobisher  and  Davis  made  voyages 
into  the  northwestern  Atlantic,  and  other  brave  mariners  J 
in  various  expeditions  gave  evidence  of  the  new-found  ener- 
gy and  enterprise  of  England.  The  expeditions  of  men  like 
Drake  were  at  least  half  piratical,  but  they  were  perhaps  the 
necessary  forerunners  of  English  colonization,  for  they  gave 
courage  to  English  seamen  and  helped  to  break  down  all 
fear  of  the  power  of  Spain. 

*  An  interesting  account  is  to  be  found  in  Green,  History  of  the 
English  People,  chap.  vii. 

f  Fletcher,  Drake's  chaplain,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  voyage, 
speaks  of  taking  thirteen  chests  of  silver  reals,  eighty  pounds  weight  of 
gold,  twenty-six  tons  of  uncoined  silver,  two  very  fair  gilt  silver  drink- 
ing bowls,  "  and  the  like  trifles." 

X  Famous  among  these  men  was  John  Hawkins,  a  valiant  seaman, 
knighted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  his  success  in  the  slave  trade.  He  who 
made  himself  famous  in  this  horrible  traffic  seems  not  to  have  realized 
its  horror  or  its  wickedness.  For  he  was  a  pious,  religious  spirit,  and 
carried  slaves  or  fought  the  Spanish  with  as  clear  a  conscience  as  if  en- 
gaged in  holy  errand.  His  sailing  orders  to  his  ships  close  with  the 
words  :  "  Serve  God  daily  ;  love  one  another  ;  preserve  your  victuals  ; 
beware  of  fire  ;  and  keep  good  company  !  " 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  first  English  settlements  in  America  were  not  made 
under  the  guidance  and  direction  of  the  monarch,  nor  to 
carry  out  any  policy  of  state  ;  they  were  the  re- 
sult of  private  enterprise.  And  yet  those  who 
were  chiefly  interested  in  colonization  were  influenced  by 
other  motives  than  the  mere  hope  of  personal  gain ;  they  de- 
sired the  extension  of  English  power,  and  they  longed  in 
some  measure  to  check  the  might  of  Spain.  They  hoped  to 
get  a  share  of  the  gold  and  silver  with  which  the  New  World 
was  supposed  to  abound,  and  which  was  thought  to  be  the 
source  of  Spanish  strength.  Mere  hatred  of  the  Spaniard 
and  religious  rivalry  seem  to  have  had  no  small  share  in  the 
real  motives  for  colonizing  effort.* 

The  man  who  first  seriously  entertained  plans  for  settle- 
ment in  North  America  and  had  the  zeal  and  courage  to 
make  decided  effort  was  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  a  gentle  and 
noble  character,  one  of  those  persons  whose  life  and  conduct 
serve  to  brighten  the  page  of  history.  In  1579,  assisted  by 
his  half-brother,  Walter  Raleigh,  he  endeavored 
Gilbert  and        ^0  make  a  settlement  in  Newfoundland.     This 

Raleighi 

effort,  as  well  as  one  a  few  years  later  (1583), 
was  unsuccessful.  Raleigh  now  took  up  the  plan,  and  for 
years  persisted  in  trying  to  establish  a  permanent  English 
colony.  He  more  wisely  chose  a  location  farther  to  the 
south.  In  1584  he  sent  out  two  vessels  on  a  voyage  of  ex- 
ploration. Their  commanders  f  sailed  along  the  coast  south 
of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  name  Virginia  was  given  to  the 
whole  country  in  honor  of  the  maiden  queen,  Elizabeth. 
The  next  year  Raleigh  sent  out  a  company  who  settled  on  Ro- 
anoke Island.     This  colony  was  a  failure,  and  another  effort 


*  Hakluyt's  famous  Westerne  Planting  contains  these  words  among 
others  :  "  That  this  voyage  will  be  a  great  bridle  to  the  Indies  of  the 
King  of  Spain." 

f  Amadas  and  Barlowe.  Raleigh  was  knighted  as  a  reward  for  these 
voyages. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  33 

met  with  like  result.*  Although  Ealeigh  was  not  entirely 
discouraged,  no  other  serious  steps  were  taken  until  the  be- 
ginning of  the  next  century. 

These  efforts  were  a  preparation  in  more  ways  than  one 
for  successful  colonization  in  America.  They  pointed  to 
the  difficulties  and  did  something  toward  marking  out  the 
way  of  success,  f  Moreover,  a  number  of  the  men  who  were 
actively  interested  with  Ealeigh  were  subscribers  to  the  com- 
pany which  made  a  permanent  settlement  at  Jamestown,  the 
planting  of  which  is  soon  to  be  told.  And  yet  there  is  a 
marked  difference  between  the  efforts  of  the  sixteenth  and 
those  of  the  seventeenth  century.  With  the  age  of  Eliza- 
_ .    .   .      ,     beth  there  seemed  to  pass  away  the  flavor  of 

Colonization  oj  ■> 

the  middle  romance  and  adventure  ;  the  settlements  under 

class.  prosaic  James  I  were  the  offspring  of  the  eco- 

nomic needs  of  England.  "  We  pass  .  .  .  into  the  sober  at- 
mosphere of  commercial  and  political  records,  amid  which 
we  faintly  spell  out  the  first  germs  of  the  constitutional  life 
of  British  America."  The  Englishman  who  succeeded  in 
colonizing  America  was  not  the  gay  courtier  or  the  daring 
buccaneer  or  the  bold  freebooter  or  the  gallant  soldier  of  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  but  the  steady  representative  of  the  in- 
dustrious, plodding  men  of  the  middle  classes,  whose  wants 
and  thoughts  henceforth  were  the  directive  forces  of  Eng- 
lish history.  J     The  first  settlements  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 

*  In  1587  over  a  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were  left  on  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  when  some  three  years  later  assistance  was 
sent  to  them,  they  were  not  to  be  found.  This  was  Raleigh's  "  lost 
colony." 

f  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  iii,  has  an 
interesting  chapter  on  Hawkins  and  Drake,  also  one  on  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh.  For  further  facts,  see  Fisher,  The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  23  fol. ; 
Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  p.  38  fol. ;  Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  chap,  v, 
p.  60  ;  Doyle,  The  English  in  America  (The  Southern  Colonies),  p.  57  fol. 

%  For  a  picture  of  the  England  of  Drake  and  Raleigh,  of  Gilbert  and 
Sir  Philip  Sydney,  read  Charles  Kingsley's  Westward  Ho  !  or  Scott's 
Ken  il  worth. 


34  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

tury  contained  some  of  the  elements  of  romantic  England ; 
but  only  when  these  were  cast  aside  did  the  colonies 
prosper.* 

Other  motives  than  a  desire  for  wealth  or  a  longing  to 
curb  the  power  of  Spain  seem  to  have  had  their  influence 

with  those  who  undertook  at  the  beginning  of 
Motives  for         the  seventeenth  century  to  found  a  permanent 

settlement  in  America.  The  industrial  condition 
of  England  naturally  turned  men's  thoughts  to  plans  of  col- 
onization. The  people  were  restless  and  uneasy ;  soldiers 
that  had  fought  for  Elizabeth  found  their  occupation  gone 
and  wished  for  further  excitement ;  many  men  were  out  of 
work,  for  the  conversion  of  plow  land  into  sheep  farms  de- 
prived laborers  of  employment.  There  was  a  complaint  that 
England  was  overcrowded — a  strange  complaint,  one  might 
think,  inasmuch  as  the  population  of  Great  Britain  has  in- 
creased tenfold  since  that  day.  But  in  those  days,  before 
the  invention  of  modern  machinery,  men  could  not  easily 
find  employment  save  as  tillers  of  the  soil.  The  country 
therefore  was  overcrowded  with  those  who  had  no  work ; 
lawlessness  prevailed  and  crimes  were  frequent,  f  Under 
these  circumstances  men  turned  their  thoughts  to  America 
as  a  fit  place  to  which  to  move  the  unemployed.  Partly, 
then,  as  a  business  enterprise,  partly  in  consideration  of 
England's  industrial  condition,  partly  from  motives  of  pa- 
triotism in  order  that  England,  as  well  as  her  hated  rival, 


*  John  Smith  was,  as  we  shall  see,  the  exception  which  proved  the 
rule.  He  was  a  rollicking  soldier  of  fortune,  but  he  was  more.  When 
lie  declared  that  "  he  who  will  not  work  shall  not  eat,"  he  announced 
the  gospel  of  a  new  dispensation — the  principle  of  a  coming  de- 
mocracy. 

f  The  Spanish  minister  in  London  wrote  to  his  king  that  the  chief 
reason  for  the  English  effort  to  colonize  Virginia  was  that  a  colony 
"  would  give  an  outlet  to  so  many  idle  and  wretched  people  as  they 
have  in  England."  See  Hart,  American  History  told  by  Contempo- 
raries, vol.  i,  pp.  154,  155. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


35 


TERRITORY 

Granted,  by  the  Charter  of 
lOOO 

GRANT  EXTENDED  100  MILES  INLAND 

AND  INCLUDED  ALSO  ALL  ISLANDS 

100  MILES  FROM  THE  COAST. 


Spain,  might  have  possessions  across  the  sea,  colonization 
was  undertaken. 

The  experience  of  Ealeigh  seemed  to  prove  that  no 
single  person  could  successfully  establish  a  settlement  in 
America.  The  task  required  greater  wealth  and  greater  in- 
fluence than  one  man  could  possess.  For  the  prosecution 
of  the  enterprise,  therefore,  a  number  of  men  sought  and  re- 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ceived  a  charter  from  King  James.  The  charter  was  complex 
and  intricate,  providing  for  two  companies  of  like  character. 
Th  L  a  d  ^ne  was  comPose<l  °^  London  merchants,  and 
Plymouth  had   authority  to   establish  a  settlement   be- 

Companies.  tween  the  thirty-fourth  and  forty-first  degrees 
of  latitude ;  in  other  words,  somewhere  between  Cape  Fear 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson.  The  other,  the  Plymouth 
Company,  was  made  up  of  "sundry  knights,  gentlemen, 
merchants,  and  other  adventurers  of  Bristol  and  Exeter, 
and  of  our  town  of  Plimouth,"  and  it  could  found  a  colony 
between  the  thirty-eighth  and  the  forty-fifth  degrees,  or 
between  the  southern  point  of  Maryland  and  the  Bay  of 
Fundy.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  grant  to  one  of  the 
companies  overlapped  the  other  by  three  degrees,  but  it  was 
provided  that  one  was  not  to  make  a  settlement  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  other.  The  strip  of  three  degrees  was 
to  belong  to  the  company  first  colonizing  it. 

It  was  also  provided  by  the  charter  that  each  of  these 
companies  should  have  a  council  of  thirteen,  resident  in 
America ;  and  there  was  to  be  one  general  su- 
How  they  were  perior  council  in  England.  The  aif  airs  of  the 
company  were  in  the  hands  of  the  council,  but 
it  must  govern  "  according  to  such  laws,  ordinances,  and  in- 
structions as  shall  be  in  that  behalf  given  and  signed  with 
our  hand  or  sign  manual  " — that  is  to  say,  according  to  the 
orders  of  the  king.  The  colonists  and  their  children  were 
to  have  "  all  liberties,  franchises,  and  immunities  "  of  native- 
born  subjects  of  the  king. 

A  paper  of  instructions  was  issued  by  the  king,  and  this 
contained  certain  directions  to  the  company  or  limitation 
upon  its  power.  Trial  by  jury  was  provided  for 
jj*J  when  a  person  in  the  colony  was  accused  of  a 

capital  offense.  The  president  and  council  in 
Virginia  were  empowered  to  make  laws  which  would  have 
force  for  the  time  being,  but  must  be  finally  ratified  in 
England. 


THE   SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  37 

There  were  some  liberal  provisions  in  the  charter  and 

instructions,  but  the  king  in  reality  retained  almost  com- 

,    .  plete  power  in  his  hands.     He  could  manage 

The  colonists        f  7T^ 

without  self-  the  company  almost  at  will,  lne  colonists,  on 
government.  the  other  hand,  were  in  the  power  of  a  com- 
mercial company,  made  up  of  men  who  desired  indeed  to 
found  a  colony,  but  wished  also  to  reap  their  reward  in 
wealth.  The  settlers  had  no  share  in  the  government ;  all 
local  authority  was  placed  in  the  resident  council. 

A  company  of  colonists  sailed  for  America  in  December, 
1606.*  Among  them  were  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men — 
white-handed  gentlemen,  hoping  to  find  imme- 
e  se  ers.  diate  riches ;  broken  gallants  and  ruined  trades- 
men ;  and  a  few  "  carpenters  "  and  "  laborers."  The  gentle- 
men made  up  more  than  half  the  company.  A  gentleman, 
we  must  remember,  was  a  man  who  knew  not  work.  There 
were  also  on  board  a  tailor,  a  barber,  and  a  drummer,  f 
These  men  expected  to  gather  with  ease  the  precious  stones 
and  gold  and  silver  with  which  the  country  was  supposed 
to  abound. \  Thus  it  is  plain  that  the  company  was  strik- 
ingly ill  fitted  to  build  homes  in  a  wilderness,  to  fell  the 
forest,  to  plant  corn,  to  toil  and  struggle  in  patience — "  more 
fit  to  spoil  a  commonwealth  than  either  begin  one  or  but 
help  to  maintain  one."  # 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1607  the  expedition  entered 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  in  May  decided  to  build  a  town  on  a 


*  The  whole  story  of  the  settlement  is  vividly  told  in  Cooke's  Vir- 
ginia, Part  I,  and  in  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  1-72. 

f  "  They  were  going  to  a  wilderness  in  which,  as  yet,  not  a  house 
was  standing,  and  there  were  forty-eight  gentlemen  to  four  carpenters." 
Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  88. 

\  "  For  rubies  and  diamonds,  they  go  forth  on  Holydays  and  gather 
them  by  the  seashore,  to  hang  on  their  children's  coats  and  stick  in 
their  caps."  These  words  are  from  Eastward  Ho !  a  popular  play  in 
England  at  this  time. 

*  Captain  John  Smith's  The  Generall  Hjstorie  of  Virginia. 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

low  peninsula  jutting  out  into  one  of  the  rivers  that  flows 
through  the  fertile  and  attractive  country  south  of  the 
great  bay.  In  honor  of  their  monarch  they 
named  the  river  the  James,  and  their  town 
Jamestown.  Dissensions  and  quarrels  threatened  at  the 
very  outset  to  bring  failure  to  the  colony.  Even  while  on 
the  voyage  the  leaders  had  fallen  into  dispute ;  and  when 
they  landed,  Captain  John  Smith,  who  had  been  named  as 
one  of  the  council,  was  for  a  time  prevented  from  taking 
the  office,  because  he  had  been  "  suspected  of  a  supposed 
mutiny."  Wingfield  was  chosen  president,  but  was  grossly 
unfit  for  the  task  of  governing  this  band  of  eager  gold 
hunters  and  adventurers.  He  was  finally  deposed,  but  his 
successor  was  alike  incompetent. 

The  first  dismal  summer  was  full  of  dread  and  trouble. 
The  Indians  made  an  attack,  but  were  beaten  off.  The 
food  was  scanty  and  the  water  bad ;  the  rank 
marshes  exhaled  malaria.  Disease  broke  out, 
and  nearly  the  whole  colony  was  prostrated  with  fever. 
"  Burning  fevers  destroyed  them,"  says  Percy,  one  of  the 
company ;  "  some  departed  suddenly,  but  for  the  most  part 
they  died  of  mere  famine."  Before  autumn  came,  fifty  were 
dead,  and  the  living  were  in  a  pitiable  plight. 

The  one  man  fit  to  rule  was  John  Smith.     He  had  al- 
ready had  a  remarkable  career  of  war  and  adventure.     He 
was  a  sort  of  soldier  of  fortune,  brave,  self- 
reliant,  capable — one  of  those  enterprising  men 
left  over  from  the   sixteenth  century,  when  adventurous 
knight  errantry  was  in  season.*     He  worked  without  ceas- 

*  "He  was  perhaps  the  last  professional  knight  errant  that  the  world 
saw — a  free  lance  who  could  not  hear  of  a  fight  going  on  anywhere  in 
the  world  without  hastening  to  take  a  hand  in  it."  See  Tyler,  History 
of  American  Literature,  vol.  i,  p.  18.  Tyler's  description  of  Smith  and 
his  writings  is  full  of  charm  and  interest.  The  portrait  on  the  opposite 
page  is  from  Smith's  The  Generall  Historic  of  Virginia,  and  is  a  part 
of  the  map  of  New  England.  For  a  part  of  this  map,  see  the  chapter 
on  New  England. 


C^Cheft  arc  theLitteS  ihatjhcw  tky~Facc\tntt  thofc 

nhatfhew  thy  Grace  and  ^toVV,  brighter  bee  : 

<~&iy  Taire-di/coueries  and  JFoYVtC-  Overthrowes 

Of  SalvagCS,mach  CiviilizA  hy    tke^j<^ 

"Beftjfow  ~thy  Spirit/and  to  it  Glory  (Wyt 

Sojhou  artBra&C  without,  hut  Qol(U~Within, , 


40 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ing  to  save  the  colony,  and  to  him  its  final  success  was  due. 
Help  came  from  England,  and  new  settlers  were  brought 
over.  Smith  now  became  president  of  the  council,  and  he 
wielded  his  power  with  vigor.  "  You  must  obey  this  now 
for  a  law,"  he  declared,  "  that  he  who  will  not  work  shall 


[Smith  Vindtth  afalutuje  tohts  armc~. 
~gg^-    all hiscompany,  anJJlen>  J  of  '<!«.* 


From  Captain  John  Smith's  Generall  Historie. 


not  eat."  No  more  wholesome  statute  for  a  new  settlement 
and  a  new  world  could  be  devised  than  this,  and  as  long  as 
the  murmuring  people  obeyed  there  was  hope  of  plenty. 
Again  settlers  came,  and,  though  Smith  bitterly  complained 
that  "there  was  now  no  thought,  no  discourse,  no  hope, 
and  no  work,  but  dig  gold,  wash  gold,  refine  gold,  load 
gold,"  when  he  left,  in  1609,  there  was  a  good  chance  of 
success  if  his  fundamental  ordinances  were  obeyed. 

In  this  year  (1609)  the  company  received  a  new  char- 
ter.    To  the  council  in  Virginia  was  added  a  governor, 

to  whom  the  colonists  were  "  forthwith  to  be 
?609.er°f  obedient."     The  limits  of  the  territory  of  the 

company  were  altered,  and  in  later  years  the 
terms  of  this  charter  were  held  by  the  State  of  Virginia 
to  give  her  dominion  in  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio. 
The  line  was  to  run  along  the  coast  for  two  hundred  miles 
on  either  side,  north  and  south,  of  Point  Comfort,  and  was 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


41 


to  include  "  all  that  Space  and  Circuit  of  Land  lying  from 
the  Sea-Coast  of  the  Precinct  aforesaid,  up  into  the  Land, 
throughout  from  Sea  to  Sea,  West  and  North-west."  * 

When  Smith  left  the  colony  he  might  well  have  hoped 
that  a  permanent  English  colony  was  established  in  Amer- 
ica. Jamestown  was  then  a  struggling  little  village  of  fifty 
or  sixty  houses  ;  but  the  people  were  not  in  want.     Hardly 


*  By  this  charter  the  London  Company  was  made  a  separate  com- 
pany, distinct  from  the  Plymouth  Company. 


42  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  the  stout-hearted  soldier  gone,  however,  when  the  old 
troubles  broke  out  afresh.  The  autumn  and  winter  were, 
as  a  consequence,  full  of  bickerings  and  dis- 
putes. Men  quarreled  when  they  should  have 
worked.  Misery  and  want  followed  close  upon  the  heels 
of  strife.  "  Within  six  months  after  Captain  Smith's 
departure  there  remained  not  past  sixty  men, 

su  enng,  womeil)  an(j  children,  most  miserable  and 
poore  creatures ;  and  those  were  preserved  for  the  most 
part  by  roots,  herbes,  acorns,  walnuts,  berries,  now  and 
then  a  little  fish  ;  .  .  .  yea,  even  the  very  skins  of  their 
horses."  * 

In  1610  the  colonists,  obtaining  temporary  relief,  were 
on  the  point  of  abandoning  the  settlement  when  Lord 
.  Delaware  arrived  with  new  supplies.  And  so 
Dale,  1610  to  the  colony  struggled  on  in  a  miserable  plight. 
1616,  Delaware    was    succeeded  by   Dale,   a  rough, 

domineering  soldier,  who  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron.  The 
people  suffered  untold  miseries  during  the  years  of  his  ad- 
ministration, which  was  long  remembered  as  the  "  five 
years  of  slavery."  f  Yet  perhaps  this  period  of  stern  dis- 
cipline was  needed  for  the  preservation  of  the  colony. 

We  need  not  recount  the  details  of  Dale's  administra- 
tion or  the  work  of  the  governors  that  came  after  him. \ 
It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  the  colony  struggled  on,  and 

*  John  Smith's  Gencrall  Historic  of  Virginia. 

t  Read  especially  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  45-48. 
Delaware,  who  lived  in  England,  was  the  nominal  governor,  but  the 
colony  was  in  Dale's  hands.  At  this  time  the  practice  of  bringing  all 
products  to  a  "  common  store  "  was  abandoned  in  part ;  the  old  planters 
were  given  garden  patches.  The  communal  system  had  tempted  men 
to  be  lazy,  in  hope  of  eating  the  bread  that  other  men  had  earned. 
Men  now  worked  in  the  prospect  of  enjoying  the  fruit  of  their  toil. 

%  George  Yeardley,  a  "  mild  and  temperate  "  man,  ruled  for  a  time. 
ne  was  followed  by  Argall,  whom  Cooke  calls  a  "  human  hawk,  peering 
about  in  search  of  some  prey  to  pounce  on."  In  1619  Yeardley  re- 
turned. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


43 


that  before  Dale  returned  to  England  the  people  had 
found  in  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  a  profitable  industry, 
to  which  they  turned  their  attention,  filling 
"  the  market  place,  street,  and  other  spare 
places  "  with  the  growing  crops.  There  was  a  ready  sale 
for  this  commodity  in  England,  for  the  people  were  fond 


Tobacco. 


From  Captain  John  Smith's  Geneeall  Historie. 

of  smoking,  and  continued  the  practice,  spite  of  the  outcry 
of  worthy  King  James,  who  published  a  Counterblast  to 
Tobacco,  and  declared  that  it  was  the  "  greatest  sin  "  that 
a  man  could  not  "  walk  the  journey  of  a  Jew's  Sabbath  " 
without  having  a  coal  brought  to  him  "  from  the  nearest 
pothouse  to  kindle  "  his  tobacco  with.  As  early  as  1619  Vir- 
ginia shipped  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  this  weed.  The 
colony  had  thus  found  a  business  basis,*  and  as  the  years 


*  It  thus  justified  its  existence,  and  made  its  success  certain. 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

went  by  tobacco  became  almost  the  sole  export.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  on  this  one  crop  the  colony  grew  and 
prospered,  and  that  the  social,  industrial,  and  even  the 
political  life  of  Virginia  was  built  upon  it. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  tobacco  culture,  negro 
slavery  was   introduced   into  the   colony.     In   1619   there 

came  into  the  harbor,  says  John  Eolfe,  "  a 
Negro  slavery.  T3utch  manne-of-war,  that  sold  us  twenty  ne- 
gars."  The  raising  of  tobacco  was  well  suited  to  slave 
labor,  for  the  negro  was  easily  taught  to  do  simple  field 
work,  and  could  learn  to  cultivate  the  single  crop  to  which 
Virginia  soon  gave  itself  up.  So  tobacco  and  slavery  grew 
and  prospered  together.  It  was  long,  however,  before  the 
number  of  blacks  was  very  large,  or  materially  affected  the 
real  life  and  character  of  the  colony.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
for  some  years  there  were  more  white  than  black  servants. 
Persons  who  desired  to  move  to  America  agreed  to  work  for 

a  term  of  years  in  order  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
White  servi-       ^he  vova(Te.     These  were  called  "redemption- 

tude.  „  *         i  -i  i  i 

ers,   *  and  came  in  large  numbers  not  only  to 

Virginia,  but  in  later  years  to  the  other  English  colonies  as 
well.  In  .addition,  there  were  other  white  laborers,  not  so 
desirable  an  element,  drawn  from  the  idle  or  vicious  classes 
of  England.  These  "  indented  servants  "  were  often  po- 
litical criminals,  persons  who  had  been  engaged  in  some 
uprising  against  the  Government,  and  of  these  in  the  days 
to  come  many  were  shipped  to  America  to  serve  for  a  pe- 
riod of  years.     Sometimes  they  were  common  rascals,  who 

*  For  the  redemptioner  at  a  later  time,  see  McMaster,  History  of 
the  People  of  the  United  States,  vol.  ii,  p.  558.  The  words  "  indented 
servants "  are  often  used  to  include  the  redemptioners.  "  Some- 
times," says  Jefferson,  "  they  [the  indented  servants]  were  called  re- 
demptioners, because,  by  their  agreement  with  the  master  of  the  vessel, 
they  could  redeem  themselves  from  his  power  by  paying  their  pas- 
sage." For  the  origin  of  the  word  "indented,"  see  the  dictionary, 
under  "  indenture." 


THE  SOUTHERN   COLONIES— 1607-1700.  45 

were  transported  to  the  colonies  instead  of  being  hanged  at 
home.* 

While  the  colony  was  growing  in  strength  and  finding  a 
sound  basis  in  industry,  an  alteration  in  its  form  of  govern- 
ment  changed   it  from  a  mercantile   venture 
The    general     fofo  a  political  colony.     This  great  change — 

courts"  of  the  5     .  /  °  & 

London  Com-       the  beginning,  one  might  almost  say,  of  the  po- 

iTd  ln  EUg"  litical  and  constitutional  history  of  the  United 
States — was  the  result  rather  of  conditions  in 
England  than  of  any  great  demand  on  the  part  of  the  set- 
tlers for  new  institutions.  In  1612  a  new  charter  had  been 
granted  by  the  king,  according  to  which  the  control  of  the 
London  Company's  affairs,  which  had  at  first  been  in  the 
hands  of  a  small  council,  was  given  to  the  body  of  stock- 
holders, who  were  authorized  to  hold  four  "  general  courts  " 
a  year,  and  to  come  together  at  other  times.  These  meet- 
ings became  important  gatherings,  in  which  was  a  great 
deal  of  interest  and  much  bold  discussion.  These  assem- 
blies gave  themselves  up  to  debate,  and  the  questions  under 
discussion  were  not  always  confined  to  the  mere  temporary 
interests  of  the  company.  There  were  factions  among 
its  members.  The  leaders  of  one  element  were  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  a  man  of  rare  ability  and  of  noble  character, 
and  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  the  friend  of  Shakespeare. 
These  men  were  foes  of  arbitrary  rule  in  England ;  they 
hated  the  sly  kingcraft  of  James ;  they  belonged  to  that 
class  of  liberal-minded  men  who  were  growing  restless 
under  the  high-handed  rule  of  an  unpopular  monarch. 
They  were  anxious  to  rear  in  America  a  strong  colony  on 

*  "  In  1G25  there  were  about  four  hundred  and  sixty-four  white  serv- 
ants in  Virginia,  but  only  twenty-two  negroes.  In  1671  there  were 
six  thousand  servants  and  two  thousand  slaves "  (Bruce,  Economic 
History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  vol.  i,  p.  572).  From 
about  1G80  the  slave  population  rapidly  increased.  These  white  servants 
were  in  the  seventeenth  century  "  the  main  pillar  of  the  industrial 
fabric." 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

a  broad  and  liberal  basis,  and  they  seem  to  have  resented 
the  interference  of  the  king  in  the  affairs  of  Virginia. 
Largely  through  the  influence  of  these   patriotic  men  a 

great  charter  was  granted  by  the  company  to 
Charter  No-**  tne  Pe°ple  ot  Virginia.  This  memorable  docu- 
vember  13,         ment  has  been  lost,  but  its  contents  are  in  part 

known  to  us.  It  provided  for  the  summoning 
of  a  popular  assembly ;  it  laid  the  foundation  for  a  consti- 
tutional government  in  the  New  World.*  Sandys  and 
Southampton,  who  were  chiefly  influential  in  bringing 
about  this  great  change,  should  be  honored  among  the 
fathers  of  American  liberty. 

In  1619  Governor  Yeardley  appeared  in  Virginia  with 
"  instructions  from  the  Company  for  the  better  establish- 
inge   of   a  commonwealth."  f      He   proclaimed   that  "  the 

cruell  lawes,  by  which  the  ancient  planters  have 
Assembly  in  soe  l°nge  Deen  governed,"  were  now  abrogated, 
America,  July,     and  that  they  were  to  be  governed  "  by  those 

free  lawes  which  his  majesties  subjectes  lived 
under  in  Englande.  .  .  .  That  the  planters  might  have  a 
hande  in  the  governing  of  themselves,  yt  was  granted  that 
a  generall  assemblie  shoulde  be  held  yearly  once,  whereat 
were  to  be  present  the  governor  and  counsell  with  two 
Burgesses  from  each  plantation  freely  to  be  elected  by  the 
inhabitantes  thereof,  this  Assemblie  to  have  power  to  make 
and  ordaine  whatsoever  lawes  and  orders  should  by  them  be 
thought  good  and  profitable  for  our  subsistence."  J  In  con- 
formity with  this  notice,  an  assembly  was  held  in  the  little 
church  at  Jamestown  in  this  same  year.  With  the  won- 
derful English  instinct  for  government  and  organization, 

*  "  It  contained  in  embryo  the  American  system  of  an  executive 
power  lodged  mainly  in  one  person,  and  a  Legislature  of  two  houses." 
(Eggleston,  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  p.  55.) 

f  In  other  words,  Yeardley  came  over  to  put  the  principles  of  the 
new  charter  into  operation. 

\  These  words  are  from  the  "  briefe  declaration  "  written  somewhat 
later. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  47 

the  representatives  of  this  little  community  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Virginia  entered  upon  the  duties  and  privileges  of 
their  office  with  a  zest  and  an  aptitude  that  augured  ill  for 
tyrannical  rule  and  pointed  to  the  development  of  a  self- 
ruling  democracy  in  the  New  World.* 

The  privileges  granted  by  the  company  in  1619  were 
further  confirmed  in  an  instrument  brought  to  Virginia 

two  years  later  by  Sir  Francis  Wyat.  It  pro- 
Virginia's  vided  among  other  things  that  no  law  should 

be  valid  without  the  consent  of  the  company ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  that  no  orders  from  London  should 
be  binding  on  the  colony  unless  ratified  by  the  Assembly. 
The  courts  were  to  use  the  laws  and  forms  of  trial  used  in 
England.  "  The  system  of  representative  government  and 
trial  by  jury  thus  became  in  the  new  hemisphere  an  ac- 
knowledged right.  On  this  ordinance  Virginia  erected  the 
superstructure  of  her  liberties."  f  It  furnished,  too,  a  model 
for  later  government  throughout  the  colonies.     This  trans- 

*  Interesting  accounts  of  this  first  Assembly  will  be  found  in  Ban- 
croft's History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i,  p.  111-119 ;  Cooke's  Virginia, 
chap.  xix.  Bancroft  says:  "Prom  the  moment  of  Yeardley's  arrival 
dates  the  real  life  of  Virginia."  We  owe  this  establishment  of  free 
institutions  to  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  and  the  Earl  of  Southampton.  The 
Earl  of  Southampton  was  a  conspicuous  man  in  the  reign  of  James. 
He  was  interested  in  colonization,  and  was  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Virginia  Company  of  London.  He  belonged  to  the  liberal  faction  of 
the  company,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  in  insisting  upon  the  rights 
of  the  company  in  opposition  to  James.  He  may  therefore  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  fathers  of  American  constitutionalism.  He  was  a 
friend  and  patron  of  Shakespeare,  and  is  thought  by  some  critics  to  be 
the  "  W.  H."  whom  the  poet  addresses  in  his  idolizing  sonnets.  To 
him  some  of  Shakespeare's  poems  are  dedicated.  "  Should  the  plan- 
tation go  on  increasing  as  under  the  government  of  that  popular  Lord 
Southampton,"  said  the  Spanish  ambassador,  "  my  master's  West  In- 
dies and  his  Mexico  will  shortly  be  visited,  by  sea  and  land,  from  those 
planters  in  Virginia." 

f  Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  118.  When  at  a  later  day  the  colo- 
nists feared  that  they  would  lose  their  new-found  rights,  the  Virginia 


48  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

planting  of  the  free  institutions  of  England  to  the  New 
World,  to  flourish  and  expand  there,  is  one  of  the  note- 
worthy facts  of  all  history. 

Virginia  in  these  years  was  prosperous,  and  was  now 
far  past  the  experimental  stage.  There  were  several  thou- 
sand people  scattered  about  in  the  little  settle- 
rospen  y.  ments.  Tobacco-raising  was  proving  a  profit- 
able business,  and  new  farms  and  plantations  sprang  up 
along  the  river  banks.  The  strength  of  the  colony  was 
shown  by  the  fact  that,  although  the  settlements  were 
fiercely  attacked  by  the  Indians  (1622)  and  over  three 
hundred  persons  were  killed,  the  "great  massacre,"  as  it 
was  called,  served  as  little  more  than  a  temporary  check 
upon  progress. 

But  meanwhile  King  James  was  losing  patience  with 
the  London  Company  and  its  turbulent  general  courts,  in 
which  men  spoke  so  freely  and  fearlessly, 
loses  its  char-  These  meetings  were  thronged,  and  the  whole 
ter,  1624.  0f  London  seems  to  have  been  stirred  and  ex- 

cited by  their  discussions.  The  Virginia  courts,  whispered 
the  Spanish  minister  to  James,  "  are  but  a  seminary  to  a 
seditious  parliament."  And  such,  in  fact,  they  were.  The 
king  resolved  to  be  rid  of  this  seminary  of  sedition.  An 
excuse  was  readily  found,  and  the  necessary  legal  steps  were 
taken  to  revoke  the  charter.  Virginia  then  became  a  royal 
colony  (1G24).  A  governor  with  wide  powers  was  directly 
appointed  by  the  king.  Eepresentative  government,  how- 
ever, did  not  die  out,  for  the  Assembly  continued  to  exist, 
although  there  is  no  record  of  its  meeting  for  a  time  after 
the  annulment  of  the  charter.  The  attack  of  James  upon 
the  company  was  an  act  of  petty  tyranny,  but  in  the  long 
run  it  was  better  that  the  colony  should  be  under  the  king 
than  subject  to  the  whim  of  a  commercial  company. 

Assembly  petitioned  the  king  to  send  over  commissioners  to  hang  them 
rather  than  establish  the  old  tyranny. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  49 

Charles  I,  who  now  came  to  the  throne,  had  enough  to 
do  at  home  seeking  to  rule  according  to  his  own  sweet  will, 
and  soon  had  more  than  he  could  do  in  trying 
Results.  to  gaye  kjg  throne  and  his  head.     The  people 

in  America  were  therefore  allowed,  without  much  interfer- 
ence, to  develop  their  own  institutions  and  to  become  prac- 
ticed in  the  management  of  their  own  interests.  In  later 
years  royal  governors  were  at  times  cruel  and  domineering, 
but  on  the  whole  Virginia  developed  naturally  and  freely. 

We  can  only  hurriedly  glance  at  the  succession  of  events 
which  mark  the  growing  political  character  of  the  Virgin- 
ians. In  1635  the  people,  displeased  with  the 
Harvey  thrust  COnduct  of  their  governor,  deposed  him,  and 
sent  him  home  to  England  to  give  an  account 
of  himself.  This  "  thrusting  out  of  Sir  John  Harvey  "  was 
not  a  riotous  affair.*  It  was  what  one  may  call  an  orderly 
rebellion.  It  points  to  two  facts  :  first,  a  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence and  self-respect  in  the  young  community ;  and, 
second,  a  faculty  of  self-control  which  prevented  what  was 
legally  a  rebellion  from  degenerating  into  tumult  and 
anarchy. 

When  the  civil  war  broke  out  in  England  (1642)  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia  sympathized  on  the  whole  with  Charles,  and 
upon  his  death  the  Assembly  went  so  far  as  to 
Virginia  a  pasg  rcsolutions  speaking  of  the  "  most  excel- 

loyal  colony. 

lent  and  now  undoubtedly  sainted  king."  But 
the  authority  of  the  victorious  Parliament  was  established 
over  the  colony  without  much  trouble,  and  it  became  subject 
for  a  time  to  the  power  of  the  Commonwealth.  This  sym- 
pathy with  the  defeated  party  in  England  had,  however,  a 
material  effect  upon  the  growth  and  character  of  Virginia. 
It  became  an  asylum  for  "  distressed  cavaliers."  \     Many 

*  The  brief  record  of  the  council  is  amusing  in  its  brevity :  "  On  the 
28th  of  April,  1635,  Sr.  John  Harvey  thrust  out  of  his  government,  and 
Capt.  John  West  acts  as  Governor  till  the  King's  pleasure  known." 

f  "  For,  if  our  spirits  were  somewhat  depressed  in  contemplation  of 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

stiff-necked  royalists,  and  those  who  were  not  at  ease  after 
the  downfall  of  the  monarchy,  made  their  way  to  Virginia. 
It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that,  whereas  the  immigration  to 
New  England,  of  which  we  shall  presently  speak,  ceased 
when  the  war  between  Parliament  and  king  broke  out,  there 
flowed  into  Virginia  a  steady  stream  of  population,  espe- 
cially, it  seems,  through  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth. 
In  1640  there  were  not  over  eight  thousand  people  in  the 
colony,  and  in  1670  there  were  about  forty  thou- 
sand. It  is  too  much  to  believe  that  the  in- 
crease was  all  due  to  the  influx  of  distressed  cavaliers,  but 
beyond  question  there  were  many  such,  and  their  coming 
did  a  good  deal  to  shape  colonial  life  and  manners.  They 
seem  to  have  raised  the  tone  and  character  of  Virginia  life. 
Many  of  them  must  have  been  men  of  some  social  standing 
in  England,  men  of  culture,  if  not  wealth ;  they  were  well 
born  and  well  bred,  fitted  for  polities  and  self-government. 
They  were  loyal  in  their  sympathies  and  devoted  to  the 
memory  of  their  lost  king,  but  in  the  free  air  of  the  New 
World  they  were  to  develop  into  uncompromising  democrats 
and  the  fiercest  defenders  of  their  own  privileges.  When 
one  considers  the  number  of  statesmen  and  soldiers  that 
Virginia  has  furnished  America,  and  the  great  part  she  has 
played  in  politics  and  in  building  up  the  nation,  he  may  well 
consider  this  immigration,  next  to  the  great  inroad  of  the 
Puritans  at  the  North,  the  most  important  one  in  our 
history.* 

a  barbarous  restraint  upon  the  person  of  our  king  in  the  Isle  of  Wight ; 
to  what  horrors  and  despair  must  our  minds  be  reduc'd  at  the  bloody 
and  bitter  stroke  of  his  assasshmtion  at  his  palace  at  Whitehall "  (from 
A  Voyage  to  Virginia  (1649),  published  in  Force's  Historical  Tracts, 
vol.  iii,  No.  10.)  See  also  Stedman  and  Hutchinson,  American  Litera- 
ture, vol.  i,  p.  50. 

*  When  one  notices  the  size  of  the  land  grants  made  in  the  days  after 
the  cavalier  immigration,  he  sees  that  the  influx  of  these  men  meant  the 
establishment  of  the  great  estates  of  Virginia,  which  became  the  domi- 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  51 

Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  (1660)  Virginia  passed 
under  royal  control  once  more.     Although  it  had  sympa- 
thized with  the  king  in  his  exile  and  afflictions, 
Governor  ft  was  no£  singled  out  for  special  consideration. 

On  the  contrary,  it  was  ruled  with  great  harsh- 
ness. Sir  William  Berkeley,  who  had  been  deposed  from  his 
governorship  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  was  now  re- 
instated in  power,  and  he  ruled  with  an  iron  hand.  He  was 
not  by  nature  a  small  man  or  a  cruel  one,  nor  did  he  set  delib- 
erately at  work  to  despoil  the  people  ;  but  he  was  a  born  aris- 
tocrat, completely  devoted  to  the  king  and  the  Church,  and 
he  believed  that  the  duty  of  the  common  people  was  to  fol- 
low, not  to  lead. 

He  was  devoted  to  what  seemed  to  him  the  interests  of 
Virginia,  yet  he  was  out  of  all  patience  with  murmuring  or 
discontent.  But  the  people  were  growing  rest- 
less. King  Charles,  utterly  disregarding  the 
rights  of  the  settlers,  gave  to  two  of  his  court  favorites  at 
this  time  "  all  the  dominion  of  land  and  water  called  Vir- 
ginia "  for  a  term  of  thirty-one  years.  Moreover,  since  the 
influx  of  the  cavalier  element  and  the  extension  of  the  plan- 
tation system,  the  government  had  become  more 
B hC°iv8  aristocratic,  and  the  planters  with  the  big  plan- 

tations had  acquired  considerable  political  au- 
thority and  influence,  under  which  the  poorer  people  fretted. 
Added  to  these  troubles  were  the  vexatious  laws  that  were 
passed  by  England  in  restraint  of  colonial  trade.  But  most 
grievous  of  all  were  the  Indian  attacks  on  the  frontier,  and 
the  refusal  of  the  haughty  governor  to  do  aught  to  prevent 
them  or  to  guard  the  western  settlements  in 

1  R7R 

any  way.  The  result  of  these  gathering  discon- 
tents was  a  rebellion  headed  by  a  young  man  named  Na- 
thaniel Bacon.     At  the  head  of  a  band  of  determined  men 


nating  fact  of  industrial  life ;  the  increase  of  the  negroes  in  number  at 
the  same  time  points  to  the  extension  of  the  plantation  system. 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN    NATION. 

he  defeated  the  Indians ;  but  in  doing  so  he  incurred  the 
enmity  of  Berkeley,  who  had  no  patience  with  volunteer 
movements  or  popular  uprisings  even  for  the  purpose  of 
self-defense  against  savages.  The  troubles  that  followed 
are  commonly  known  as  Bacon's  rebellion,  and  the  episode 
is  full  of  interest  to  the  student  of  the  political  and  indus- 
trial history  of  Virginia.  We  need  not  give  the  details  of 
the  rebellion ;  it  was  a  failure,  and  Berkeley  wreaked  a 
dreadful  vengeance  upon  the  rebels.  Charles  II,  the  king 
whom  the  haughty  governor  was  ready  to  worship,  is  said  to 
have  exclaimed  :  "  That  old  fool  has  hanged  more  men  in 
that  naked  country  than  I  did  here  for  the  murder  of  my 
father  ! " 

It  remains  for  us  to  consider  the  meaning  and  the  re- 
sults of  this  rebellion.     It  was  in  part  a  protest  against  the 
arbitrary  authority  of  the  governor,  in  part  a 
Itsmeaning       manifestation  of  discontent  with  the  naviga- 

and  resultSi 

tion  laws  and  the  existing  industrial  order,  and 
in  part  a  revolt  against  the  power  of  the  great  planters,  who 
by  that  time  had  absorbed  authority  in  the  management  of 
local  affairs,  and  many  of  whom  were  out  of  all  sympathy 
with  popular  government.  Bacon's  followers  were  in  large 
measure  the  poorer  people,  "  Ye  scum  of  the  country,"  as 
they  were  called  by  the  aristocrats.  Although  other  less 
serious  uprisings  followed  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the 
failure  of  this  rebellion  marks,  on  the  whole,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  aristocratic  character  of  Virginia  in  its  politi- 
cal, social,  and  industrial  life. 

But  this  does  not  mean  that  in  the  years  to  come  the 
powers  of  the  crown  and  governor  increased  in  Virginia, 

.  and    that   there  was  no   development  of  the 

character  in  principles  and  practices  of  self-government, 
after  years.  Rather,  as  we  shall  see,  the  small  planters  and 
great  planters,  as  time  went  on,  made  common  cause.  Al- 
though the  rich  slave  owners  held  the  offices  and  dominated 
the  social  and  industrial  life  of  the  colony,  they  constantly 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  53 

strove  to  wrest  greater  authority  from  the  royal  governor 
and  the  crown,  and  to  make  the  colony  self-governing.  In 
the  great  revolution  against  Great  Britain  in  the  next  cen- 
tury the  rich  and  the  poor  of  Virginia  acted  together ;  the 
wealthy  and  prosperous  did  not  support  the  Tory  cause,  as 
did  so  many  of  their  class  in  other  colonies ;  but,  with  a 
masterly  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  political  action, 
they  opposed  the  king  and  his  ministers,  and  furnished 
during  the  whole  struggle  great  leaders  in  thought  and 
action,  men  who  appreciated  at  their  full  value  the  doc- 
trines of  English  liberty,  which  England  herself  seemed  to 
be  forgetting. 

Of  the  industrial  and  social  condition  of  the  time  no 
better  statement  can  be  made  than  in  a  report  made  by 

Governor  Berkeley,  and  we  may  well  leave  Vir- 
Berkeley'8         ginia  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 

with  some  of  his  words  in  our  mind :  "  Com- 
modities of  the  growth  of  our  country,  we  never  had  any 
but  tobacco,  which  in  this  yet  is  considerable  that  it  yields 
his  Majesty  a  great  revenue.  .  .  .  Now,  for  shipping,  we 
have  admirable  masts  and  very  good  oaks ;  but  for  iron  ore, 
I  dare  not  say  there  is  sufficient  to  keep  one  iron  mill  going 
for  seven  years.  .  .  .  We  suppose  .  .  .  that  there  is  in  Vir- 
ginia above  forty  thousand  persons,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, and  of  which  there  are  two  thousand  black  slaves,  six 
thousand  Christian  servants,  for  a  short  time,  the  rest  are 
born  in  the  country  or  have  come  in  to  settle  and  seat,  in 
bettering  their  condition  in  a  growing  country.  .  .  .  Eng- 
lish ships,  near  eighty  come  out  of  England  and  Ireland 
every  year  for  tobacco  ;  few  New  England  ketches ;  but  of 
our  own  we  never  yet  had  more  than  two  at  one  time,  and 
those  not  more  than  twenty  tons  burthen.  .  .  .  We  have 
Iforty-eight  parishes,  and  our  ministers  are  well  paid,  and 
by  my  consent  should  be  better  if  they  would  pray  oftener 
and  preach  less.  But  of  all  other  commodities,  so  of  this, 
the  worst  are  sent  us.  .  .  .  But,  I  thank  God,  there  are  no 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

free  schools  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these 
hundred  years." 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  36-44,  64-78;  Fish- 
er, The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  23-62 ;  Lodge,  Short  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish Colonies  in  America,  pp.  1-25 ;  Higginson,  Larger  History,  pp. 
84-107.  Longer  accounts :  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Vol- 
ume I,  pp.  224-308;  Volume  II,  pp.  9-13;  Bancroft,  History,  Vol- 
ume I,  pp.  60-152,  442-474;  Cooke,  Virginia,  pp.  1-331;  Hildreth, 
History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  pp.  76-96,  99-135,  335-353, 
509-565 ;  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Volume  III,  Chap- 
ters II,  IV,  V.  For  the  beginnings  of  Virginia,  read  especially  Eg- 
gleston,  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  1-98,  a  very  charming  and 
entertaining  book ;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  her  Neighbors,  Volume 
I,  especially  Chapters  II  to  IV. 


MARYLAND— 1632-1700. 

Among  the  most  noticeable  features  of  American  life  at 
the  present  day  are  the  entire  absence  of  connection  between 

church  and  state  and  the  complete  toleration 
Religious  tol-      0f  a\\  forms  0f  religious  belief.     Our  national 

Constitution  provides  that  Congress  "shall 
make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or 
prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof."  The  State  Consti- 
tutions contain  similar  provisions,  and  men  now  quite  gen- 
erally assert  that  intolerance  is  foolish  and  wrong.  But 
this  broad  and  tolerant  spirit  has  been  of  slow  growth.  In 
the  seventeenth  century,  when  America  was  settled,  the 
great  mass  of  men  did  not  believe  in  toleration.  Even  in 
England,  which  was  in  some  respects,  perhaps,  more  ad- 
vanced in  liberal  thought  than  were  most  of  the  countries 
of  Continental  Europe,  there  were  severe  laws  on  the  statute 
books  providing  for  the  punishment  of  those  that  did  not 
accept  the  faith  of  the  Established  Church  or  did  not  con- 
form to  the  prescribed  modes  of  worship.     Many  of  the 


THE   SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  55 

settlers  in  America  were  fugitives  from  the  persecutions 
of  the  Old  World ;  and  yet  in  many  of  the  colonies, 
throughout  the  whole  colonial  period,  a  spirit  of  intolerance 
prevailed.  Only  slowly  did  men  come  to  a  full  apprecia- 
tion of  the  wisdom  of  allowing  all  people  to  think  as  they 
chose  in  matters  of  religion.  This  continent  received  in 
its  early  days  men  of  many  and  diverse  faiths ;  and  in  the 
free  air  of  the  New  World,  where  free  thinking  and  free 
acting  were  encouraged,  people  gradually  came  to  respect 
their  neighbor's  sincere  faith,  even  though  it  differed  from 
their  own. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  we  are  interested  in  the 
early  history  of  Maryland,  where  for  some  years  Protestants 
and  Eoman  Catholics  lived  together  in  peace, 
e  ver  s*  and  where  the  principles  of  tolerance  were 
carried  into  practice.  The  founders  of  Maryland  were 
George  and  Cecilius  Calvert.  The  former,  a  man  of  con- 
siderable influence  in  England,  was  for  a  time  secretary 
of  state  under  James  I.  In  1625  he  announced  his  conver- 
sion to  Roman  Catholicism  and  resigned  his  position.* 
James  made  him  a  peer,  with  the  title  of  Baron  Baltimore 
of  Baltimore.  Even  before  his  retirement  from  office  he 
had  entered  upon  plans  for  founding  a  colony  in  America, 
and  he  now  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  establish  a 
settlement  in  Newfoundland.  Undaunted  by  this  failure, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  south,  and  obtained  from  the 
king  a  grant  of  land  on  either  side  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Be- 
fore the  charter  was  actually  issued  Baltimore  died,  leaving 
his  plans  for  founding  a  principality  in  America  to  be  car- 
ried out  by  his  son  Cecilius,  who  seems  to  have  inherited 
his  father's  ambitions. 

In  June,  1632,  the  charter  was  issued.     "  It  contained 

*  It  was  against  the  law  for  a  Catholic  to  hold  office.    In  James's 
reign,  before  1618,  twenty-four  Catholics  are  said  to  have  been  pun- 
ished with  death. 
ft 


56 


ITISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ek-n:x^ 


■sv.-'y- ..■■■'  l ■■■■' ■.r:^%-    n'---\i\-   OT 


0      10    20     30     40     50 
Original  Charter  Boundary  at 
Present  Boundary 


j»  claimed  by  proprietor* ....:.  "f-^"'°*"h*  F       ,/ 

of  Maryland     _       _       ••'••*  ^        V         *<*     f/\ 


the  most  ample  rights  and  privileges  ever  conferred  by  a 
sovereign  of  England."  We  have  seen  that  the  first  suc- 
cessful settlements  in  Virginia  were  made  un- 
e  o  ar  er.  ^er  ^e  augpjces  0f  a  commercial  corporation. 
This  charter,  on  the  other  hand,  bestowed  on  one  man  full 
title  to  a  large  territory,*  and  gave  to  him  alone,  with 
scarcely  any  restrictions,  full  powers  to  govern  the  people 
that  settled  there.  The  proprietor  was  the  feudal  lord  of 
the  province  ;  he  owed  allegiance  to  the  King  of  England, 

*  The  colony  was  named  Maryland  at  the  request  of  the  king,  in 
honor  of  his  wife,  Henrietta  Maria.  The  boundaries  of  the  grant  were 
more  extensive  than  the  present  State  of  Maryland.  The  lines  were  as 
follows :  On  the  north,  the  fortieth  parallel ;  on  the  west,  a  line  running 
south  from  the  parallel  to  the  farthest  source  of  the  Potomac ;  on  the 
south,  the  Potomac  from  this  point,  and  then  by  a  line  running  across 
the  bays  and  peninsula  to  the  Atlantic ;  on  the  east,  by  the  ocean  and 
by  Delaware  Bay  and  river.  A  glance  at  the  accompanying  map  will 
show  the  boundaries.  The  northern  boundary  of  Maryland,  long  a 
subject  of  dispute,  was  finally  surveyed  in  part  by  two  men  named 
Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon,  two  English  mathematicians.  This 
was  not  till  1763-'67. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  57 

but  he  was  the  feudal  overlord  and  superior  of  the  people 
upon  his  domain.  Baltimore,  then,  may  be  looked  upon 
as  practically  King  of  Maryland ;  the  people  that  came  to 
settle  there  were  his  subjects. 

The  colony  was  a  palatinate  modeled  after  the  palati- 
nate of  Durham,  in  England.  The  head  of  such  a  domin- 
ion, within  his  palatinate,  had,  in  fact,  kingly  rights  "  as 
fully  as  the  king  in  his  palace,"  subject,  of  course,  as  feudal 
vassal,  to  the  king. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  proprietor  lacked  none  of  the 
essential  rights  of  kingship  within  his  province,  the  charter 
gave  in  a  vague  way  certain  rights  to  the 
Rights  of  the  people.  He  was  the  lawmaking  power ;  but 
the  laws  were  to  be  made  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  freemen  or  their  representatives.  The  set- 
tlers were  to  have  the  privileges  of  Englishmen ;  but  this 
could  not  have  meant  much  in  a  patent  granted  by  Charles 
Stuart. 

There  is  no  evidence  in  the  charter  itself  of  an  inten- 
tion to  found  a  colony  where  all  men  should  be  allowed  to 
worship  God  as  they  chose  ;  but  it  seems  cer- 
Practical  toler-  tajn   that    £jng    Charles    would    never    have 

ation. 

granted  the  right  to  establish  a  colony  solely 
for  Catholics.  He  was  too  strongly  Protestant  for  that.  It 
must,  then,  have  been  understood  that  the  adherents  of 
both  religions  were  to  be  welcome.*  And  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  first  two  ships,  the  Ark  and  the  Dove,  that 
set  sail  for  the  new  colony,  had  on  board  both  Catholics  and 

*  Brown  says  of  Cecilius :  "  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
intended  to  found  a  Catholic  colony  like  the  nonconformist  colonies  to 
the  north.  Such  a  quixotic  scheme  would  have  been  ruinous  to  his  en- 
terprise and  himself."  "  Both  he  and  his  father  had  planned  to  make 
Maryland  a  refuge  for  their  persecuted  fellow-believers,  without  mak- 
ing it  a  distinctively  Catholic  province,  which,  of  course,  would  have 
resulted  in  its  ruin."  (George  and  Cecilius  Calvert,  Lords  Baltimore, 
pp.  89-98.) 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Protestants.  The  expedition  was  in  the  charge  of  Leonard 
Calvert,  the  brother  of  the  proprietor.  He  was  to  be  the 
first  governor,  and  had  received  strict  instructions  from 
Lord  Baltimore  "  to  be  very  careful  to  preserve  unity  and 
peace,  .  .  .  and  suffer  no  scandall  nor  offense  to  be  given  to 
any  of  the  Protestants."  This  voyage  of  the  Ark  and 
the  Dove  seems  a  noteworthy  voyage  in  history.  For, 
though  troublous  times  were  to  follow,  it  was  prophetic 
of  better  days  that  men  of  these  two  religions  could  set 
sail  together  to  build  up  a  commonwealth  in  America. 

The  vessels  reached  Virginia  in  February,  1634.     A  site 
was  purchased  from  the  Indians  near  the  mouth  of  the  Po- 
tomac.    A  permanent   settlement  was  made 
JJJSjf*  there  and  named  St.  Mary's.    With  some  of  the 

Virginians,  and  especially  with  one  Claiborne, 
the  settlers  had  considerable  trouble.  Claiborne  claimed 
land  within  the  limits  of  the  Baltimore  grant,  and  he  con- 
tinued without  ceasing  to  demand  its  possession  and  to  op- 
pose in  all  possible  ways  the  authority  of  the  proprietor  and 
the  development  of  the  colony.  He  has  been  well  called 
"  the  evil  genius  "  of  Maryland.  These  trials  and  vexations, 
much  as  they  disturbed  the  early  history  of  Maryland,  are 
of  comparatively  little  importance  in  its  history.  We  are 
more  interested  in  the  development  of  the  political  charac- 
ter of  the  colony  and  in  the  effort  to  establish  religious 
toleration. 

At  the  head  of  the  colony  was  the  governor,  appointed 

by  the  proprietor  and  representing  him  as  the  owner  of  the 

soil  and  lord  of  the  people.     Baltimore  pro- 

1116  vided  for  a  council  the  duties  of  which  were  ad- 

government.  , 

visory  and  judicial.  It  served  also  as  a  legisla- 
tive chamber.  The  proprietor's  laws  could  be  enacted  with 
the  consent  of  the  people,  and  to  gain  this  consent  a  legis- 
lative meeting  was  held  a  year  after  the  founding  of  the 
colony.  This  assembly  seems  to  have  been  a  mass  meeting 
of  all  the  freemen  in  the  colony.     Such  a  gathering  was  un- 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  59 

wieldy,  and  it  was  inconvenient  for  all  the  settlers  to  attend, 

and  so,  two  or  three  years  later,  some  of  them  sent  proxies, 

and  after  a  time  the  assembly  became  a  rep- 

■I  one  •»  * 

resentative  body.*  Moreover,  before  long  the 
people  were  not  content  with  the  privilege  of  ratifying  the 
enactments  proposed  by  the  proprietor ;  they  demanded  the 
right  to  propose  new  laws.  This  right  Baltimore  granted. 
Thus  we  see  that  within  ten  years  from  the  first  settlement 
Maryland  had  a  government  not  unlike  that  of  Virginia, 
and  in  some  respects  not  unlike  that  of  the  mother  country. 
Throughout  these  early  years  toleration  prevailed  in 
Maryland.     "  This  enjoyment  of  liberty  of  conscience  did 

not  spring  from  any  act  of  colonial  legislation, 
The  Toleration    nor  from  any  formal  and  general  edict  of  the 

government.  .  .  .  Toleration  grew  up  in  the 
province  silently  as  a  custom  of  the  land."  In  1649  it 
seemed  wise  to  provide  for  religious  freedom  by  positive  en- 
actment, and  in  consequence  the  famous  Toleration  Act  was 
placed  upon  the  statute  books.  "  And  whereas  the  enforcing 
of  the  conscience  in  matters  of  religion  hath  frequently  fallen 
out  to  be  of  dangerous  consequence  in  those  commonwealths 
where  it  hath  been  practiced,  and  for  the  more  quiet  and 
peaceable  government  of  this  province,  and  the  better  to  pre- 
serve mutual  love  and  amity  among  the  inhabitants,  no  per- 
son within  this  province  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ 
shall  be  in  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or  discountenanced, 
for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the  free  exercise  thereof."  The 
council  and  assembly  that  passed  this  act  were  composed  of 
both  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  it  was  an  event  of  no 

*  In  1638-'39.  This  change  is  an  interesting  example  of  institu- 
tional growth.  The  principle  of  representation  seems  to  us  of  child- 
like simplicity,  yet  the  student  of  English  history  knows  that  centuries 
were  required  for  its  production  and  its  application  to  the  needs  of  the 
popular  state.  It  may  be  considered  perhaps  the  greatest  bequest  of 
England  to  politics.  Here  in  Maryland  in  a  few  years  are  mirrored  the 
changes  of  centuries  in  Europe. 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

small  importance  in  the  history  of  mankind  when  adherents 
of  these  two  faiths  conld  thus  amicably  agree  to  live  to- 
gether and  respect  each  other's  beliefs,  even  if  it  were  in  a 
corner  of  the  New  World. 

One  would  like  to  say  that  henceforth  there  was  peace 

and  amity  in  Maryland,  and  that  the  principle  of  religious 

freedom  grew  stronger  as  the  vears  went  bv ; 

Disturbances.       ,  .  °,  ,   .    "J»     .     ,   .         J  ,   .       ,   /' 

but  unfortunately  that  tale  can  not  be  told. 
Some  of  the  Puritans  whom  Baltimore  had  invited  into  the 
colony  proved  a  restless  and  uneasy  element,  and  found  it 
difficult  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  or  to  quiet  their  con- 
sciences so  far  as  to  accept  the  practice  of  religious  tolera- 
tion. The  Protestants  by  this  time  exceeded  the  Catholics 
in  number.  Various  turmoils  ensued  and  the  rule  of  the 
proprietor  was  endangered;  but  in  1657  toleration  was 
again  established. 

On  the  whole  a  spirit  of  moderation  and  good  sense 
seems  to  have  prevailed  in  Maryland  for  some  years. 
"  Here,"  wrote  a  colonist  in  1666,  "  the  Roman 
frienfohf lf"  °f  Oatholich  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  (whom 
the  world  would  perswade  have  proclaimed  open 
Wars  irrevocably  against  each  other)  contrarywise  concur 
in  an  unanimous  parallel  of  friendship  and  inseparable  love 
intayled  unto  one  another."  * 

After  the  revolution  of  1688,  when  William  and  Mary 
came  to  the  throne  of  England,  Lord  Baltimore  was  de- 
prived of  the  right  to  govern  this  province.  A 
Later  story.  ^w  j^rs  jater  ^  English  Church  was  estab- 
lished in  Maryland,  and  laws  were  passed  that  discriminated 
against  Roman  Catholics.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century 
Benedict  Calvert,  the  fourth  Lord  Baltimore,  renounced  the 

*  Cecilius  Calvert  lived  till  1675.  He  was  a  just  man  and  a  wise 
ruler.  Even  if  his  effort  to  make  Maryland  tolerant  was  prompted  only 
by  policy,  it  showed  broadmindedness  and  good  sense.  At  his  death 
the  people  praised  his  "  unwearied  care  to  preserve  them  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  their  lives,  liberties,  and  fortunes." 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  61 

Catholic  faith,  and  in  1715  full  authority  over  thisprovince 
was  restored  to  him.  Maryland  thenceforward,  until  the 
Revolution  (1776),  remained  a  proprietary  colony. 

References. 

Short  accounts :  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  81-86 ;  Fisher,  The 
Colonial  Era,  Chapter  V;  Lodge,  English  Colonies,  pp.  92-107. 
Longer  accounts :  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  I,  pp. 
476-517,  Volume  II,  pp.  214-226 ;  Doyle,  The  English  in  America, 
The  Southern  Colonies,  pp.  365-436;  Brown,  Maryland  (American 
Commonwealth  Series),  pp.  1-202 ;  Brown,  George  and  Cecilius  Cal- 
vert; Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  her  Neighbors,  Volume  I,  Chapter 
VIII,  Volume  II,  Chapter  XIII;  Bancroft,  History,  Volume  I,  pp. 
154-175,  437-441 ;  Hildreth,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume 
I,  pp.  204-213,  357-367.  The  reader  will  be  especially  entertained 
by  the  charming  account  of  the  founding  of  Maryland  that  is  given 
in  Eggleston's  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  Book  III,  Chapter  I. 


THE  CAROLINAS— 1663-1700. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  but 
one  real  settlement  on  the  Atlantic  coast  south  of  Virginia. 
Th  This  was  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida,  a  Spanish 

south  of  outpost  rather  than  a  colony.     French  Hugue- 

Virgima,  no^  -^  w^  ^e  rememjjej^  had  ma&e  an  effort 

to  establish  themselves  in  Florida,  but  without  success. 
The  Spaniards  were  quite  unwilling  to  acknowledge  the 
rights  of  any  nation  save  themselves,  but  they  could  not 
occupy  the  country,  and  it  lay  open,  inviting  English  colo- 
nization. The  site  was  attractive  for  an  agricultural  colony 
because  of  the  mildness  of  the  climate  and  the  richness  of 
the  soil. 

Not  till  the  reign  of  Charles  II  was  there  a  serious  effort 
on  the  part  of  England  to  take  possession  of  this  region. 
The  king,  naturally  lavish  of  his  possessions,  was  sur- 
rounded with  many  favorites  to  whom  he  wished  to  be  gra- 
cious and  generous.     Some  of  the  men  that  had  faithfully 


62 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Grant  of 

OarolinaB. 


stood  by  the  royal  house  during  its  days  of  adversity,  or 
who  had  aided  Charles  since  his  restoration,  were  especially 
deserving  in  his  eyes.  In  1663  he  granted  to  a 
set  of  these  men  the  territory  of  Carolina  with 
somewhat  indefinite  limits.  Two  years  later, 
by  a  new  charter,  the  boundaries  were  fixed  at  parallel  36° 
30'  on  the  north  and  29°  on  the  south — a  vast  principality 
stretching  westward  across  the  continent.  The  proprietors 
of  this  new  dominion  were  among  the  most  important  men 
in  England.*     The  Duke  of  Albemarle  was  that  General 

Monk  by  whose  instru- 
mentality Charles  had 
been  brought  back  to 
the  throne  of  his  fath- 
ers. The  Earl  of  Clar- 
endon had  been  a 
most  faithful  friend  in 
the  days  of  exile. 
Anthony,  Lord  Ash- 
ley, afterward  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  held  at 
that  time  high  official 
position,  and  was  con- 
sidered the  most  astute 
politician  in  the  king- 
dom. He  is  the  original  of  Achitophel  in  Dryden's  famous 
satire.  Others  were  joined  with  these  men  as  the  owners 
of  Carolina. 

The  privileges  and  rights  granted  to  the  proprietors 
were  as  broad  as  their  dominion.  They  lacked  none  of  the 
essentials  of  kingship.     The  charter,  it  is  true,  seemed  to 


*  The  charter  calls  them  "  our  right  trusty  and  well-beloved  cousins 
and  counsellors."  They  were  said  to  be  "  excited  with  a  laudable  and 
pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith  and  the  enlarge- 
ment of  "  the  British  dominions. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  63 

recognize  the  desirability  of  religious  toleration,  and  pro- 
vided that  the  freemen  should  ratify  the  laws.  But  it  has 
been  well  said  that  "  every  favor  was  extended  to  the  pro- 
prietors; nothing  was  neglected  but  the  interests  of  the 
English  sovereign  and  the  rights  of  the  colonists." 

Before  the  proprietors  took  steps  to  colonize  Carolina, 
settlements  had  already  been  made  within  the  limits  of 
their  grant.  Some  Virginians  had  settled  on  the  Chowan 
River.  This  became  a  permanent  settlement,  and  was  the 
beginning  of  North  Carolina.  Somewhat  later,  colonists 
were  sent  over  under  the  auspices  of  the  proprietors. 
They  first  settled  on  the  west  shore  of  the  Ashley  River 
(1670),  but  in  a  few  years  moved  to  the  present 
2"*  site  of  Charleston.*     This  was  the  beginning 

of  South  Carolina.  For  a  time  these  two  set- 
tlements had  the  same  governor,  but  in  political  and  social 
life  they  were  different.     Each  had  its  own  character. 

When  the  proprietors  entered  earnestly  on  the  task  of 
colonization,  they  undertook  to  provide  a  model  govern- 
ment for  their  tenants.  The  few  people  that 
Grind  Mod  l  were  alrea(ty  on  *ne  gr°und  were  getting  on 
very  well  without  an  elaborate  constitution. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  they  were  showing  capacity  for  creat- 
ing institutions  as  they  needed  them,  suited  to  their 
wants.  But  Shaftesbury  entertained  the  hope  that  he 
could  avoid  "erecting  a  numerous  democracy."  He  was 
the  great  friend  of  aristocratic  privilege  and  power  in 
England,  and  he  doubtless  thought  that  he  could  give  an 
example  of  a  typical  aristocratic  commonwealth.  Shaftes- 
bury's secretary  at  this  time  was  John  Locke,  who  later  be- 
came one  of  England's  famous  philosophers.     He  helped  to 


*  The  proprietors  sent  them  word :  "  We  let  you  know  that  Oyster 
Point  is  the  place  we  do  appoint  for  the  port  town,  of  which  you  are  to 
take  notice  and  call  it  Charles  Towne."  So  the  present  city  of  Charles- 
ton dates  from  1680. 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

draw  up  a  constitution*  for  the  colony.  Now,  even  in 
America,  the  home  of  written  charters  and  fundamental 
laws,  the  maxim  holds  true  that  constitutions  are  not 
made,  but  grow.  The  one  thing  that  was  quite  impossible 
under  Locke's  plan  was  growth.  The  country,  wild  as  it 
was  and  almost  uninhabited,  was  to  be  divided  up  with 
mathematical  accuracy,  and  the  feudal  system  in  an  ex- 
aggerated form  was  to  be  foisted  upon  the  people.  Various 
grades  of  society  were  established — proprietors  and  land- 
graves, and  caciques  and  leetmen — and  it  was  solemnly  de- 
clared that  "  all  the  children  of  leetmen  shall  be  leetmen, 
and  so  to  all  generations."  f  This  document,  known  as  the 
"  Fundamental  Constitutions,"  is  often  referred  to  as  Locke's 
"  Grand  Model."  It  is  surprising  that  the  clever  philosopher 
and  the  crafty  Shaftesbury  could  together  have  made  or 
countenanced  such  folly  under  the  name  of  wisdom. 

This  constitution  is  sometimes  looked  upon  as  a  mere 
philosophic  fantasy,  fit  for  a  museum  of  antiquities ;  but  it 
Eff  t  f  th  seems  to  have  had  a  real  effect  on  the  history 
model  on  of  the  Carolinas,  although  it  was  never  fully 

colonial  life.  enforced.  Obedience  to  such  a  law  was  quite 
impossible,  and  the  settlers  were  thus  schooled  by  necessity 
to  disregard  the  wishes  of  the  proprietors,  who  had  shown 
no  sense  in  appreciating  the  needs  of  their  colonies.  The 
northern  colony,  rejecting  this  philosophic  strait-jacket, 
showed  its  disobedience  in  acts  of  lawlessness ;  the  south- 
ern colony,  a  little  more  peacefully  disobedient,  early  gave 
evidence  of  political  sagacity,  and  carried  out  its  opposition 
in  orderly  method  with  great  deftness  and  skill.    "  In  Caro- 

*  Though  these  are  generally  called  Locke's  laws,  probably  he  acted 
as  little  more  than  a  secretary  rather  than  as  sole  author. 

f  The  charter  provided  that  the  proprietor  could  grant  titles  of  no- 
bility, but  that  these  titles  must  be  different  from  any  used  in  England. 
Hence  the  use  of  such  absurd  words  as  landgrave  and  cacique.  The 
leetmen  were  tenants  attached  to  the  soil  and  "  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  their  lord,  without  appeal." 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  65 

lina,"  says  Bancroft,  "  the  disputes  of  a  thousand  years  were 
crowded  into  a  generation."  The  spirit  of  independence 
was  early  manifested,  and  before  long  the  people  secured 
the  management  of  their  own  concerns. 

Upon  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  to  the  throne 

of  England,  South  Carolina,  like  some  of  the  other  colonies, 

bade  her  governor  begone.     Proprietary  gov- 

Oonditions  from  ernment  however,  lasted  for  some  years  after 

1688  to  1700.  '  *  J 

this  revolution.     But  the  proprietors  gave  up 

this  futile  effort  to  fasten  "  the  grand  model "  on  the  people.* 
Before  the  end  of  the  century  both  colonies  increased  in 
numbers  and  strength.  Negro  slavery  was  introduced,  and, 
especially  in  South  Carolina,  the  slaves  rapidly  increased  in 
numbers,  f  Various  elements  were  added  to  the  population ; 
French  Huguenots,  Hollanders,  and  Scotch  Irish  found 
their  way  thither.  Different  religious  faiths  existed  side 
by  side ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  proprietors  to  es- 
tablish the  English  Church,  and  although  the  Catholics 
were  exempted  from  the  operation  of  a  law  guaranteeing 
complete  freedom  of  conscience,  substantial  toleration  and 
religious  freedom  prevailed.  Though  still  weak  in  1700, 
the  Carolinas  were  thrifty  and  prosperous.  The  people  of 
the  southern  colony,  especially,  seemed  well  provided  with 
practical  sense  and  progressive  spirit.  New  England  is 
often  cited  as  an  example  of  England's  great  power  as  a 
colonizing  nation.  But  South  Carolina  will  serve  as  well. 
She  wished  no  tender  paternalism.     Business   enterprise 

*  The  proprietors  announced  "  that,  as  the  people  have  declared  they 
would  rather  be  governed  by  the  powers  granted  by  the  charter,  with- 
out regard  to  the  fundamental  constitutions,  it  will  be  for  their  quiet 
and  for  the  protection  of  the  well  disposed  to  grant  their  request." 

f  "It  became  the  great  object  of  the  emigrant  'to  buy  negro  slaves, 
without  which,'  adds  Wilson, '  a  planter  can  never  do  any  great  matter,' 
and  ...  in  a  few  years,  we  are  told,  the  blacks  in  the  low  country 
were  to  the  whites  in  the  proportion  of  twenty-two  to  twelve."  (Ban- 
croft, History,  vol.  i,  p.  431.) 


G6 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


and  political  capacity  tell  her  story.  North  Carolina,  too, 
was  not  unprosperous,  but  at  the  end  of  the  century  her 
affairs  seemed  unsettled,  and  her  feet  were  not  quite  so 
surely  set  on  the  way  to  real  prosperity. 

References. 

Short  accounts  :  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  87-95  ;  Fisher,  The 
Colonial  Era,  Chapter  VI.  Longer  accounts  :  Bryant  and  Gay,  Pop- 
ular History,  Volume  II,  pp.  268-290,  355-373  ;  Doyle,  The  English 
in  America,  The  Southern  Colonies,  Chapter  XII  ;  Winsor,  Narrative 
and  Critical  History,  Volume  V,  Chapter  V  ;  Bancroft,  History,  Vol- 
ume I,  pp.  408-436,  Volume  II,  pp.  10-16  ;  Hildreth,  History,  Vol- 
ume II,  pp.  25-43,  210-213  ;  Fiske,  Old  Virginia  and  her  Neighbors, 
Volume  II,  Chapter  XV ;  McCrady,  History  of  South  Carolina  under 
Proprietary  Government. 


CHAPTER  II L 

The  New  England  Colonies— 1607-1700. 

PLYMOUTH. 

Nearly  the  whole  coast  of  North  America  had  heen 
divided  between  the  London  and  Plymouth  Companies. 
The  former  established  Jamestown,  but  the  Plymouth  Com- 
pany at  first  had  no  such  success.  Some  of  its  members 
were  zealous  for  colonization,  and  eager  to  get  a  hold  upon 
the  mainland  and  to  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  fisheries ;  but 
t,^_x  .  *    3    efforts  to  this  end  were  fruitless.    The  same 

Efforts  to  found 

settlements  at     year  that  Jamestown  was  founded  a  party  of 
the  north.  one  hundred  and  twenty  people  was  sent  out 

to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  under  the  leadership  of 
George  Popham,  a  nephew  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  Eng- 
land. They  began  their  settlement  with  great  hopes,  but 
soon  met  with  disappointment.  When  the  long,  bitter 
winter  set  in,  cold  and  disease  brought  suffering  and  death 
to  the  colony.  Popham  himself  died,  and  the  next  summer 
the  enterprise  was  abandoned.  This  failure  seems  to  have 
prejudiced  the  people  of  England  against  the  bleak  and 
forbidding  north,  and  for  some  years  no  other  effort  at  set- 
tlement was  made.  In  1614,  John  Smith,  the 
New  England  doughty  soldier  who  had  saved  Jamestown, 
made  a  voyage  to  these  coasts  and  explored 
them  from  the  Penobscot  to  Cape  Cod.  He  drew  a  map  of 
the  coast,  sprinkled  it  plentifully  with  English  names,  and 
christened  it  "  New  England."  * 

*  Smith  says  on  his  map :  "  The  most  remarqueable  parts  thus  named 
by  the  high  and  mighty  Prince  Charles,  Prince  of  Great  Britaine." 

67 


68 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Jfffe*  inlZmpcfaojoft  Smiths  lAck  t>  ttarc) 
rTkn&>  %*  art  Vtrtua.  Southampton.  k>  \ 


SxmonT^AP^iis Jcu  t 
Stebert  CUrkt   eXn't'd 


Motives  of 


settlement. 


Part  of  John  Smith's  Map  of  New  England. 

Smith  ventured  the  prophecy  that  nothing  but  hope  of 
riches  would  ever  people  that  region  or  "draw  company 
from  their  ease  and  humours  at  home."  But 
there  was  a  nobler  and  stronger  motive  than 
the  love  of  ease  and  wealth,  and  this  proved 
powerful  enough  to  fortify  men  against  the  unspeakable 
trials  and  hardships  of  New  England  winters,  and  gave 
them  the  heart  to  build  homes  on  the  bleak  coast  which 
at  first  seemed  so  forbidding.  The  first  successful  colo- 
nies at  the  north  were  made  under  the  inspiration  and 
enthusiasm  of  religion  by  men  whose  lives  were  devoted  to 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  69 

holy  purposes,  to  whom  wealth  was  of  little  moment  if  they 
were  allowed  to  worship  as  they  chose  and  to  live  their 
simple  lives  in  a  state  of  their  own  building.  To  under- 
stand aright  how  these  permanent  settlements  came  to  be 
made,  we  must  get  some  idea  of  the  religious  strivings  and 
dissensions  of  that  day  in  England. 

Students  of  English  history  will  remember  that,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII,  the  Church  in  England  was  separated 
from  the  Koman  Church  and  dependence  on 
bE?gZrtS  the  P°Pe  renounced.  In  the  time  of  Eliza- 
beth, however,  not  all  the  people  were  Protest- 
ants, nor  was  there  agreement  as  to  forms  of  worship  or 
methods  of  church  government.  The  queen  insisted  upon 
conformity  to  the  regulations  of  the  Established  Church,  of 
which  she  was  the  head,  and  during  her  reign  perhaps  the 
majority  of  the  people  acquiesced  in  the  conservative  posi- 
tion she  adopted.  Many,  on  the  other  hand,  were  dissatis- 
fied, and  some  were  ready  to  suffer  persecution  rather  than 
conform  to  the  existing  order.  The  land  still  contained 
Roman  Catholics  who  believed  that  the  Pope  was  the  true 
head  of  the  Church.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  were  desir- 
ous of  freeing  the  Church  from  forms  and  symbolism,  which 
they  considered  relics  of  Romanism  and  superstition.  They 
wished  to  "  purify  "  the  Church  by  adopting  simpler  modes 
of  worship.  They  objected  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  bap- 
tism, to  the  use  of  the  surplice,  and  to  other  practices  of 
this  kind.  Still  another  class  believed  that  the  form  of 
church  government  should  be  altered,  that  the  creed  and 
ritual  should  be  prescribed  not  by  the  queen  but  by  assem- 
blies. These  persons  were  known  as  Presbyterians,  because 
they  believed  in  the  appointment  of  church  dignitaries 
called  presbyters.  All  of  these  classes,  so  far  named,  be- 
lieved in  a  state  church,  but  disagreed  as  to  its  government 
or  as  to  forms  of  worship.  There  was,  in  addition,  another 
sect  of  extreme  Puritans,  who  believed  that  a  church  was  a 
local  body  of  believers,  and  that  each  such  body  had  the 


fO  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

right  to  elect  its  own  ministers  and  determine  its  own 
methods.  These  men  were  called  "  Independents  "  or  "  Sepa- 
ratists," because  they  believed  in  separation  from  the  Estab- 
lished Church. 

Even  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  members  of  dissent- 
ing sects  *  were  severely  punished  for  nonconformity.     The 
queen  loved  symmetry  and  order,  and  hated  the 
Dissenters  semblance  of  disagreement  in  church  manasre- 

persectrtedi 

ment.  The  Separatists  were  dealt  with  sharply. 
Some  of  their  members  were  hanged  for  nonconformity. 
Upon  the  accession  of  James  there  was  no  improvement. 
He  was  a  stickler  for  prerogative,  and  in  his  narrow,  dogged 
way  was  determined  to  reign  with  a  high  hand  in  church 
and  state.  But  the  Puritans  grew  apace.  The  stately 
Elizabeth  had  been  enabled  to  hold  her  people ;  her  pre- 
tensions as  the  head  of  the  Church  seemed  not  gross  blas- 
phemy. They  loved  her  well,  for  she  was  devoted  to  Eng- 
land, had  repelled  the  infamous  Spaniard,  and  protected 
with  rare  shrewdness  her  people  and  her  throne.  But 
James  was  personally  a  sloven,  mentally  a  pedant,  morally 
selfish,  bigoted,  and  mean.  Demand  for  civil  and  religious 
liberty  was  sure  to  grow  as  a  revolt  against  the  assumption 
of  such  a  monarch,  who  believed  in  his  divine  right  to  rule. 
We  are  especially  interested  in  a  congregation  of  ear- 
nest, conscientious  folk  who  came  together  for  worship  in 
the  little  hamlet  of  Scrooby,  in  Nottinghamshire.     They 

*  The  sects  may  be  thus  designated : 

1.  Roman  Catholics. 

2.  Episcopalians :  a.  High  Church,  b.  Low  Church  .  .  .  Puritans. 

3.  Presbyterians. 

4.  Separatists. 

The  Low  Church,  Presbyterians,  and  Separatists  ought  all  to  be 
called  Puritans,  inasmuch  as  all  desired  "  purification  "  to  some  degree. 
Adherents  of  any  of  these  sects  might  outwardly  "  conform  "  and  thus 
be  "conformists,"  or  refuse  to  attend  church  and  receive  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Established  Church,  and  thus  be  "nonconformists."  The 
Separatists  were  likely  to  be  nonconformists. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND   COLONIES— 1607-1700.  71 

were   Separatists,   and   were   therefore   set   upon  and   tor- 
mented.    They  could  not  long  continue  "  in  any  peaceable 
condition ;  but  were  hunted  and  persecuted  on 
The  Scrooby        every  side,  so  as  their  former  afflictions  were 

congregation.  "  '  .  , 

but  as  nea-bitmgs  m  comparison  of  these 
which  now  came  upon  them.  For  some  were  taken,  &  clapt 
up  in  prison,  others  had  their  homes  besett  &  watcht  night 
and  day,  &  hardly  escaped  their  hands ;  and  ye  most  were 
faine  to  flie  &  leave  their  howses  and  habitations,  and  the 
means  of  their  livelehood."  *  Thus  molested  and  beset,  "  by 
a  joynte  consente  they  resolved  to  goe  into  ye  Low-Countries, 
where  they  heard  was  freedome  of  Religion  for  all  men." 
Betaking    themselves    to    Amsterdam    (1608),   they  went 

thence  to  Leyden.  But  they  still  loved  the 
They  become       dear    England   which    had    treated    them    so 

pilgrims. 

harshly.  They  had  much  to  struggle  against 
in  Holland,  although  the  church  prospered.  "  That  which 
was  ...  of  all  sorrowes  most  heavie  to  be  borne ;  was  that 
many  of  their  children  .  .  .  were  drawne  away  .  .  .  into 
extravagante,  dangerous  courses."  So  they  determined  to 
go  to  America  and  build  for  themselves  new  homes  far  from 
the  vices  of  Europe  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  long  arm 
of  persecution. 

"  The  place  they  had  thoughts  on  was  some  of  those  vast 
and  unpeopled  countries  of  America,  which  are  fruttful,  & 

fitt  for  habitation,  being  devoyd  of  all  civill  in- 
Theycometo      habitants,  wher  ther  are  only  salvage  &  brut- 

America.  .  J  ° 

ish  men  which  range  up  and  downe  little  oth- 
erwise than  ye  wild  beasts  of  the  same."  They  obtained 
money  from   merchant  "adventurers"  in  England,  and  a 

*  This  and  the  following  quotations  are  from  History  of  Plymouth 
Plantation,  by  William  Bradford,  second  governor  of  the  colony. 
Bradford  has  justly  been  called  the  father  of  American  history.  His 
book  was  left  in  manuscript,  and  was  not  published  till  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  present  century.  It  is  beautifully  written...  "  The  daily  food 
of  his  spirit  was  noble." 
6 


72  HISTORY  OF  TIIE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

grant  from  the  London  Company.  They  probably  wished  to 
settle  somewhere  in  the  northern  part  of  the  London  Com- 
pany's grant,  yet  south  of  stern  New  England,  whose  cold 
winters  were  known  to  them.  It  did  not  seem  wise  for  the 
whole  Leyden  congregation  to  go,  but  an  advance  guard  of 
one  hundred  and  two  brave  souls  sailed  from  Plymouth,  Eng- 
land, in  the  good  ship  Mayflower,  September,  1620.  The 
weather  was  rough  and  tempestuous.  The  captain  lost  his 
reckoning,  and  when  they  first  saw  land  it  was  not  the  New 
Jersey  shore,  but  the  bleak  wintry  coast  of  New  England,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Cod.  There  they  finally  deter- 
mined to  stay  and  to  build  their  homes  on  the  west  side  of 
the  broad  bay,  at  a  point  to  which  Smith  had  already  given 
the  name  of  Plymouth.     Before  leaving  their 

Impacatyfl0Wer     slliP  they  came  togetner  in  the  little   cabin 
and  drew  up  the  famous  Mayflower  Compact, 

whereby  they  solemnly  covenanted  and  combined  them- 
selves into  a  "  civill  body  politick  "  for  their  "  better  order- 
ing and  preservation."  They  acknowledged  their  dread 
sovereign  King  James,  but  they  declared  as  well  their 
intention  to  make  and  obey  the  laws.  This  was  not 
an  announcement  of  independence,  but  it  meant  self- 
government.* 

It  was  the  21st  of  December  before  they  disembarked. 

The  land  offered  but  a  dreary  prospect.     "For  summer 

being  done,  all  things  stand  upon  them  with  a 

Hardship  met      wether-beaten  face ;  and  ye  whole  countrie,  full 

with  courage.  '  J  _ ' 

of  woods  and  thickets,  represented  a  wild  and 
savage  heiw."  The  first  winter  was  full  of  terrible  distress. 
In  two  or  three  months'  time  half  their  company  were  laid 
away  in  graves  under  the  snow.     In  the  time  of  most  dis- 


*  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  government  thus  drawn  up  was 
the  same  in  form  as  they  were  authorized  by  the  Virginia  Company  to 
institute  until  something  more  permanent  could  be  done.  See  especially 
Eggleston,  Beginners,  etc.,  p.  173. 


1*^*31  *8**?I 


74  HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

tress  there  were  but  six  or  seven  persons  well  enough  to 
care  for  the  sick  or  bury  the  dead.  And  yet  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  wretchedness  the  survivors  did  not  lose  courage. 
"  It  is  not  with  us,"  said  the  brave  Brewster,  "  as  with  men 
whom  small  things  can  discourage."  When  warm  weather 
set  in,  the  Mayflower  sailed  back  to  England,  but  not  one 
of  the  settlers  went  back.  They  planted  corn,  they  built 
homes,  they  met  together  in  town  meeting,  they  worshiped 
God  in  their  own  simple  fashion.  The  Puritan  state  and 
the  Puritan  church  in  America  were  begun. 

The  leaders  of  the  company  were  Brewster  and  Brad- 
ford and  the  hardy  soldier  Miles  Standish ;  yet  all  had  the 
„     __  heroism  of  steadfastness  and  faith.     When  the 

Steadfastness 

and  courage  crops  of  this  first  summer  were  gathered  a  day 
bring  success.  0f  thanksgiving  was  appointed.  Ke-enforce- 
ments  came  from  Europe,  but  some  years  passed  away  be- 
fore the  success  of  the  undertaking  was  assured.  They 
were  not  molested  by  the  Indians,  because  the  numbers  of 
the  red  men  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  a  pestilence,  and 
this  was  attributed  to  the  fact  that  shortly  before  this  some 
white  men  had  been  killed.  The  Indians  stood,  in  conse- 
quence, in  superstitious  awe  of  the  colonists.  Moreover, 
Massasoit,  a  powerful  chief,  became  their  friend,  and  he 
directed  them  "  how  to  set  their  corne,  wher  to  take  fish, 
.  .  .  and  never  left  them  till  he  dyed." 

Where  there  was  so  much  energy  and  devotion  success 
was  sure  to  follow.  The  settlers  first  secured  a  grant  from 
the  Plymouth  Company,  on  whose  land  they 
beginnings  had  settled.  Then  they  paid  off  all  dues  to  the 
great  things  London  adventurers,  and  in  1G33  were  free 
arepr  from  debt  and  owners  of  their  tract  of  land. 

The  colony  never  became  a  large  one,  but  it  was  prosper- 
ous, wholesome,  and  sound.  It  showed  the  way  to  others, 
and  prepared  for  the  greater  migration  of  which  we  shall 
now  read.  "  Out  of  small  beginnings,"  said  Bradford, 
"  great  things  have  been  produced ;  and,  as  one  small  can- 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  ^5 

die  may  light  a  thousand,  so  the  light  here  kindled  hath 
shone  to  many,  yea,  in  some  sort  to  our  whole  nation."  * 


MASSACHUSETTS  BAY  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS. 

We  have  already  seen  that  during  the  reign  of  James  I 

there  were  growing  discontents  in  England.     When  his  son 

Charles  came  to  the  throne  (1625)  new  trou- 

Charles  I  and      ^les  ^  jn<     jje  was  even  more  obstinate  than 

Parliament. 

his  father,  and  had  high  ideas  of  his  own  author- 
ity, and  contempt  for  such  principles  of  the  constitution  as 
were  meant  to  restrain  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the  king. 
"  The  king  is  in  his  own  nature  very  stiff,"  said  Sir  Ferdi- 
nand Fairfax,  and  this  well  describes  the  character  of  the 
young  monarch  who  now  set  himself  the  task  of  ruling 
without  regard  to  the  wishes  of  the  nation.  He  began  al- 
most at  once  to  quarrel  with  the  House  of  Commons,  de- 
manding money  from  it  without  deigning  to  listen  to  com- 
plaints or  consenting  to  consider  grievances.!  But  the 
House  could  not  be  browbeaten.  They  wrested  from  him 
his  consent  to  the  famous  Petition  of  Right.  His  word  did 
not  bind  him,  however ;  he  disregarded  his  promises  and 
went  on  as  before.  In  1629  he  dissolved  Parliament,  and 
for  eleven  years  he  ruled  without  one,  extorting  money 
from  his  subjects  with  high-handed  indifference  to  their 
rights.  These  were  fateful  years  for  England.  Archbishop 
Laud  and  the  Earl  of  Strafford  laid  their  heavy  hands  upon 
the  people.  They  sought  to  crush  out  all  opposition,  and 
to  cow  the  people  into  complete  submission  to  the  king. 

*  For  a  picturesque  description  of  life  in  Plymouth  in  early  days, 
read  Hart,  American  History,  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  35G,  where  Governor  Edward 
Winslow  is  quoted. 

f  "  I  would  you  would  hasten  for  my  supply,"  he  exclaimed  in  an- 
ger when  the  House  sent  in  a  list  of  grievances,  "  or  else  it  will  be  the 
worse  for  yourselves,  for  if  any  ill  happen  I  think  I  shall  be  the  last  to 
feel  it." 


76  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Because  of  these  conditions  in  England  a  great  migra- 
tion to  America  set  in.     In  these  years,  when  King  Charles 
was  ruling  without  a  parliament  and  exacting 
The  great  illegal  taxes  from  the  people,  over  twenty  thou- 

migration.  °  r      r     ?  j 

sand  persons  left  their  homes  and  sailed  for 
New  England.*  If  one  is  to  appreciate  the  meaning  of  this 
great  movement  one  should  understand  its  causes  and  his- 
torical circumstances.  The  men  who  came  to  America  in 
those  years  cherished  the  principles  of  the  English  Consti- 
tution, and  were  from  the  same  class  as  those  who,  later  in 
the  great  rebellion  (1642-'49),  fought  to  maintain  the  liber- 
ties of  England  They  believed  that  a  monarch  had  no 
right  to  take  money  from  the  people  without  the  consent 
of  Parliament.  They  believed  that  the  people 
had  rights  and  privileges,  and  many  of  them 
realized,  in  part  at  least,  the  force  of  the  maxim  that  be- 
came fundamental  in  the  New  World — that  government 
obtains  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 
We  may  consider,  therefore,  that  the  principles  for  which 
our  Eevolution  was  afterward  fought  were  brought  by  these 
men  to  America  from  amid  the  trials  of  troubled  England 
in  the  days  of  Charles  I.  No  doubt  these  principles  grew 
more  sturdy  in  the  air  of  a  New  World,  but  the  principles 
of  1770  were  not  new  ideas  or  the  sudden  offspring  of  the 
tyranny  of  George  III.  They  were  English  principles,  for 
which  the  people  of  England  fought  in  their  rebellion  and 
which  they  made  good  in  the  revolution  of  1G88;  and  in 
the  Eevolution  of  1776  the  American  people,  more  true  to 
these  principles  than  England  herself,  struggled  to  main- 
tain them  and  make  them  effective. 

To  appreciate  this  movement  it  is  also  necessary  to  un- 
derstand the  character  and  purposes  of  these  emigrants. 

*  It  has  been  estimated,  I  know  not  with  what  accuracy,  that  about 
thirteen  million  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  are  de- 
scended from  these  twenty  thousand  persons. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND   COLONIES— 1607-1700.  7? 

They  were  Puritans — not  Separatists,  but  believers  in  the 
state  Church.  They  believed,  however,  that  the  Estab- 
lished Church  needed  purification.  They  came 
fewttknf  to  America  that  they  might  worship  as  they 
chose,  free  from  the  persecution  of  Laud. 
They  did  not  come  to  establish  toleration,  but  to  carry  out 
their  own  ideas  in  religion.  They  were,  moreover,  men  of 
ideals  and  men  of  character.  They  were  not  of  common 
origin  or  of  common  ability.  Many  of  them  were  men  of 
education  and  of  wide  experience.  Among  them  were 
scholars  and  statesmen  and  learned  ministers.  They  had 
strong  convictions  and  great  earnestness  of  purpose.  The 
characteristic  organ  of  their  communities  was  "  not  the 
hand,  nor  the  heart,  nor  the  pocket,  but  the  brain."  * 

Having  seen  the  meaning  of  this  great  movement,  let  us 

now  see  how  the  settlements  were   made  and  how  they 

prospered.     There   was  at  this  time   a  little 

E^ly  settlement  at  Salem,  then  called  Naumkeag. 

settlements.  '  & 

A  few  persons  had  been  brought  there  after  an 
unsuccessful  effort  to  establish  a  colony  at  Cape  Ann. 
Salem  now  formed  a  center  or  gathering  point  for  a  new 
immigration. 

John  White,  a  Puritan  rector  of  Dorchester,  England, 
entertained  the  hope  of  raising  in  America  "  a  bulwark 
against    the    kingdom    of   Antichrist."     In   a 
pamphlet   which  is  attributed  to  his  pen  the 
Puritans  were  urged  "  to  avoid  the  plague  while  it  is  fore- 
seen," and  not  to  tarry  till  it  overtake  them.f     White  en- 

a 

*  Tyler's  History  of  American  Literature,  vol.  i,  p.  98.  The  student 
will  find  Chapter  V  interesting  and  profitable  reading.  The  men  who 
founded  Massachusetts  are  said  to  have  come  from  that  class  of  men 
"  in  whom  at  that  time  centered  for  the  English-speaking  race  the  pos- 
sibility for  any  further  progress  in  human  society."  See  also  Fiske, 
The  Beginnings  of  New  England,  chap.  iii. 

f  "  Well  might  Englishmen  long  for  a  refuge  where  they  might  pre- 
serve these  constitutional  forms  whose  day  seemed  in  England  to  have 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

couraged  the  few  settlers  still  at  Salem  to  remain  there, 
and  took  steps  to  secure  a  legal  basis  for  the  colony.  The 
old  Plymouth  Company,  which  had  been  coupled  with  the 
London  Company  in  the  original  charter 
The  land  grant.  granted  by  James  -m  1606?*  had  reCeived  a  sepa- 
rate charter,  and  was  now  known  as  the  Council  for  New 
England.  From  it  a  tract  of  land  was  obtained  ;  the  north- 
ern boundary  was  three  miles  north  of  the  Merrimac  Eiver, 
and  its  southern  was  three  miles  south  of  the  Charles.  It 
extended  westward  to  the  Pacific.  In  1628  a  little  com- 
pany of  sixty  persons  set  sail  for  Salem  under  the  leader- 
ship of  John  Endicott,  Gentleman,  "  a  man  well  known  to 
divers  persons  of  good  note."  f 

The  next  spring  a  royal  charter  was   granted  by  the 

king  creating  a  corporation  with  the  title  of  the  Governor 

and   Company   of  the   Massachusetts    Bay  in 

1628^29!*'  ~^ew  England-  It  is  one  of  tne  curious  con- 
trasts of  history  that  in  the  same  year  and  the 
same  week  that  the  headstrong  monarch  entered  upon  the 
task  of  ruling  without  a  parliament  he  granted  a  charter 
to  this  company,  whose  work  was  fated  to  result  in  the 
erection  across  the  water  of  a  great  free  republic,  which 
was  destined  to  cherish  and  develop  the  principles  he  was 
seeking  to  crush.  This  charter  will  bear  examination,  for 
out  of  it  grew  important  forms  of  colonial  government. 

passed  away,  and  that  political  freedom  which  at  home,  if  saved  at  all, 
c'ould  be  saved  only  by  the  sword."  See  Doyle,  The  P]nglish  in  America 
(The  Puritan  Colonies),  vol.  i,  p.  116. 

*  See  ante,  page  36. 

f  "  A  fit  instrument  to  begin  this  wilderness  work,  of  courage  bold, 
undaunted,  yet  sociable  and  of  a  cheerful  spirit,  loving  and  austere, 
applying  himself  to  either  as  occasion  served  "  (From  the  Wonder- 
working Providence).  Endicott  came  over  to  New  England  in  1628, 
and  was  governor  at  Salem  till  the  transfer  of  the  charter.  He  was 
deputy  governor  from  1641  to  1644,  and  also  in  1650,  and  was  governor 
at  various  times — 1644,  1649,  1651-1665,  except  1654.  He  was  a  severe 
disciplinarian,  rigid  in  religion,  and  a  stern  ruler. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  fc) 

The  affairs  of  the  company  were  intrusted  to  a  governor, 
deputy  governor,  and  eighteen  assistants,  who  were  elected 
annually  by  the  freemen  or  members  of  the  corporation. 
These  officers  were  to  meet  once  a  month  or  oftener  to 
transact  business,  and  four  times  a  year  they  were  to  meet 
with  all  the  freemen  in  "  one  great,  general,  and  solemn  as- 
sembly." The  freemen  in  these  "  great  and  general "  courts 
had  the  power  to  make  laws  and  ordinances  for  the  welfare 
of  the  company  and  for  the  government  of  the  plantation, 
"  so  as  such  laws  and  ordinances  be  not  contrary  and  re- 
pugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  realm  of  England." 
Soon  after  the  granting  of  the  charter  about  four  hundred 
persons  embarked  for  New  England. 

The  company  in  England  now  decided  upon  the  impor- 
tant step  of  transferring  its  seat  of  government  and  taking 
its  charter  to  America.  This  change  was  of 
The  transfer  of  great  moment.  The  company  thus  fully  resi- 
dent in  the  New  World  was  more  than  a  trad- 
ing company,  such  as  it  might  appear  to  be  on  the  face  of 
the  charter.  Legally  it  was  still  a  corporation  under  the 
control  of  the  King  of  England  ;  actually  it  developed  into 
a  self-governing  commonwealth,  a  body  politic,  in  nearly  all 
respects  independent  and  self-sufficient.* 

This  transference  of  the  charter  took  place  in  1630,  and 
in  the  same  year  nearly  one  thousand  persons  went  over  to 
Massachusetts.     This  was  the  greatest  effort  at  colonization 

*  "  Under  the  disguise  of  a  trading  company  and  a  commercial 
charter,  they  went  forth  to  found  a  State  and  erect  an  independent  gov- 
ernment "  (Lodge,  A  Short  History  of  the  English  Colonies  in  Amer- 
ica, p.  344).  The  company  records  say :  "  And  lastly,  the  Governor 
read  certain  propositions  conceived  by  himself,  viz. :  That  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Plantation,  the  inducing  and  encouraging  persons  of 
worth  and  quality  to  transplant  themselves  and  families  thither,  and 
for  other  weighty  reasons  therein  contained,  to  transfer  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Plantation  to  those  that  shall  inhabit  there,  and  not  to 
continue  the  same  in  subordination  to  the  Company  here,  as  now  it  is." 


80  HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

as  yet  made  by  Englishmen.     John  Winthrop,*  a  man  of 

noble  and  lofty  spirit,  a  magnanimous  and  gentle  soul,  one 
of  the  best  products  of  his  age,  a  high  type  of 
the  Puritan  statesman  and  scholar,  came  out  as 

governor  of  the  colony. 

Other  settlements  were  rapidly  founded.     Charlestown 

had  already  been  begun,  and  here  Winthrop  at  first  made 
his  home  ;  but  he  later  moved  to  the  peninsula 

Various  ^hat  ]av  ^0  the  south  and  west  of  Charlestown, 

RfittlfTnflTl1"H 

where  three  bare  hills  raised  their  heads,  a  place 
"  very  uneven,  abounding  in  small  hollows  and  swamps,  cov- 
ered with  blueberries  and  other  bushes."  With  Winthrop 
went  a  number  of  other  people,  and  they  "  began  to  build 
their  homes  against  winter  ;  and  this  place  was  called  Bos- 
ton." Other  towns  sprang  up.  Within  a  year  of  Winthrop's 
arrival  there  were  eight  separate  settlements  extending  from 
Salem  on  the  north  to  Dorchester  on  the  south. 

We  may  well  notice  the  various  changes  that  were  made 
in  the  government  of  this  colony.    The  charter  of  a  trading 

company  in  reality  furnished  the  basis  of  the 
Changes  in         government    of  the   people.     Self-government 

government.  °  l       r  n 

was  not  here,  as  in  Virginia,  a  gift  from  the 
company  to  the  settler  ;  the  settlers  were  the  company,  and 
as  members  of  the  corporation  they  governed  themselves. f 
As  the  people  were  now  separated  into  various  towns  and 


*  This  picture  of  Winthrop  is  engraved  in  many  places,  notably  in 
Winthrop's  History,  in  Winsor's  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  etc.  It  is 
a  copy  of  a  painting  supposed  to  be  by  the  great  artist  Vandyke.  It 
hangs  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  governor  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  from  his  arrival  in  1630  to  1634,  and  at  several  other 
times. 

f  Of  course  there  were  in  Massachusetts  many  settlers  who  were  not 
members  of  the  company,  but  the  substantial  truth  is  stated  in  the  text. 
It  might  be  more  exact  to  say  that  the  members  of  the  company  were 
settlers.  The  student  should  notice  how  the  government  of  a  corpora- 
tion grew  into  the  government  of  a  political  body. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


81 


could  not  readily  come  together,  the  assistants  were  at  first 
possessed  of  almost  all  power,  and,  it  seems,  assumed  the 


John  Winthrop. 
The  original  is  in  the  Statehouse,  Boston. 

right  to  hold  office  until  the  freemen  removed  them.  This 
plan  made  the  government  in  fact  an  oligarchy,  and  not  a 
democracy ;  but  it  did  not  last.    When  Watertown  was  called 


82  HISTORY  OF  THU  AMERICAN  NATION. 

upon  to  pay  a  tax,  "  the  pastor,  elder,  etc.,  assembled  the 
people  and  delivered  the  opinion  that  it  was  not  safe  to  pay 
moneys  after  that  sort,  for  fear  of  bringing  themselves  and 
posterity  into  bondage."  This  was  the  true  American  doc- 
trine, "  No  taxation  without  representation."  Soon  after 
this  (May,  1632)  the  General  Court  agreed  "  that  the  gov- 
ernor and  assistants  should  all  be  new  chosen  every  year  by 
the  General  Court."  "  Every  town  chose  two  men  to  be  at 
the  next  court,  to  advise  with  the  governor  and  assistants 
about  the  raising  of  a  public  stock,  so  as  what  they  should 
agree  upon  should  bind  all."  *  Somewhat  later  it  was  or- 
dered "  that  every  town  should  send  their  deputies,  who 
should  assist  in  making  laws,  disposing  lands,  etc." 

For  some  time  these  representatives  or  deputies  sat  with 
the  governor  and  assistants  as  one  body,  but  in  1G44  another 
change  was  made.  A  controversy  had  arisen 
business  on  between  a  rich  man  and  a  poor  woman  over  the 
small  occasion,  ownership  of  a  stray  pig.  The  people  became 
interested  in  the  dispute,  and  it  was  at  length  brought  be- 
fore the  assistants  and  the  deputies  for  settlement.  The 
majority  of  the  assistants  voted  against  the  poor  woman,  the 
majority  of  the  deputies  in  her  favor.  Then  "  there  fell  out 
a  great  business  upon  a  very  small  occasion,"  as  Winthrop 
said.  The  assistants  and  deputies  were  now  separated  into 
two  houses.  Thus  it  came  about  that  the  legislature  had 
two  branches  instead  of  one. 

It  was  early  declared  by  the  law  of  the  colony  that  no 

men  should  "  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of 

The  church         this  body  politic  but  such  as  are  members  of 

and  the  state.  »     -T  .  .      • 

some  oi  the  churches  within  the  limits  of  the 
same."  In  other  words,  in  order  to  have  a  share  in  the 
government  a  man  must  be  a  church  member.     Thus  it  was 

*  These  quotations  are  from  The  History  of  New  England  from  1630 
to  1649,  by  John  Winthrop.  Governor  Winthrop  in  this  book,  which  is 
in  the  form  of  a  diary,  has  left  for  us  his  own  account  of  the  building 
of  Massachusetts. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  83 

that  in  many  ways  the  church  and  the  state  were  one.*  This 
limitation  of  the  suffrage  was  altered  and  a  more  liberal 
rule  was  adopted  in  1664,  but  this  modification  probably 
had  little  practical  effect. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  people  of  each  little 
settlement  within  the  colony  began  early  in  its  history  to 
regulate  its  own  concerns.  Each  little  band 
of  settlers  was  bound  together  by  ties  of  com- 
mon interest.  The  center  of  their  life  was  usually  the  church . 
Matters  that  concerned  the  well-being  of  the  community 
were  passed  upon  in  the  meeting  of  the  freemen  of  the  town. 
Thus  the  colony  became  a  group  of  little  self-governing 
towns  which  were  subject  legally  to  the  laws  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  but  which  in  fact  regulated  in  large  part  their 
own  affairs.  The  members  of  the  town  carefully  managed 
matters  of  communal  interest,  watched  over  communal 
property,  and  guarded  against  any  intrusion  from  without. 
The  town  therefore  was  not  merely  a  place  of  abode  or  a 
number  of  houses,  nor  was  it  simply  a  number  of  people 
through  whom  the  laws  of  the  colony  were  enforced  ;  it  was 
a  body  of  people  with  many  common  business  interests, 
with  kindred  purposes  and  hopes. 

AVithin  four  years  from  the  settlement  of  Boston  there 
were  four  thousand  people  in  the  colony.  They  were  in- 
dustrious and  thrifty  ;  they  built  houses,  laid 
rospen  y.  ^  roa(^  an(j  tilled  the  soil.  Not  content 
with  mere  bodily  well-being,  they  decided  that  learning 
should  not  "  be  buried  in  the  graves "  of  their  fathers. 
They  knew  that  it  was  "  one  chief  project "  of  "  that  old 
deluder  Satan "  "  to  keep  men  from  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures"  by  persuading  them  "from  the  use  of 
tongues."  f     In  1636  the  General  Court  appropriated  money 

*  At  the  beginning  it  was  really  an  extension  of  the  suffrage. 

\  These  words  are  part  of  an  ordinance  passed  in  1647,  at  which 
time  the  law  for  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  each  township  was 
passed.     Legislation  on  the  subject  had  been  passed  even  earlier. 


84  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

for  a  college,  and  two  years  later  John  Harvard,  "  a  godly 
Gentleman  and  a  lover  of  learning,"  gave  the  "  one  halfe  of 
his  Estate  (it  being  in  all  about  1700  I.)  .  .  .  and  all  his 
library  "  for  this  purpose.  A  law  was  soon  passed  requiring 
every  township  of  fifty  householders  to  maintain  a  school 
for  reading  and  writing,  and  every  town  of  a  hundred  house- 
holders a  grammar  school  to  fit  youths  for  the  university. 

As  soon  as  the  colony  was  fairly  established  it  was  con- 
fronted with  dangers.     Its  success  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  king  and  of  the  ever-watchful  Laud, 

Ennfaendfr0m         wh°m  Charles   had  Just   made   the  Archbishop 

of  Canterbury.  To  Laud  a  Puritan  common- 
wealth across  the  sea  was  a  hateful  thing.  Steps  were  taken 
to  annul  the  charter  in  the  courts  (1635) ;  but  Massachu- 
setts was  not  willing  to  be  ruled  by  Laud.  It  proposed  to 
fight,  if  need  be.  The  governor  and  assistants  held  counsel 
with  the  ministers,  and  they  decided  :  "If  a  General  Gov- 
ernor were  sent,  we  ought  not  to  accept  him,  but  defend 
our  lawful  possessions  (if  we  were  able) ;  otherwise  to  avoid 
or  protract."  The  General  Court  ordered  the  building  of 
fortifications,  captains  were  authorized  "  to  train  unskilled 
men,"  and  bullets  were  made  legal  tender  for  the  payment 
of  debts.*  Very  good  examples  these  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  history  of  states  the  child  is  the  father  of  the  man. 
Fortunately,  the  trouble  blew  over.  The  storm  was  brew- 
ing in  England  that  brought  both  Laud  and  Charles  to  the 
scaffold. 

While  this  danger  from  its  foes  in  England  was  disturb- 
ing the  colony  there  was  also  trouble  within.     A  young 
Welshman  named  Roger  Williams  brought  dis- 
oger       iams.   cor^  among   the  people.      He  was  a  man  of 
ability,  of  sound  morals,  and  of  pure  purpose ;  but  he  was 
impulsive,  and  fond  of  argument.     He  was  gentle  and  re- 

*  "At  this  court  brass  farthings  were  forbidden,  and  musket  balls 
made  to  pass  for  farthings"  (Winthrop,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  186).  See 
also  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i,  p.  394. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1G07-1700.  85 

fined,  and  yet  he  reveled  in  dispute  and  controversy.  He 
now  declared  that  the  lands  of  the  colony  belonged  to  the 
red  man ;  that  the  King  of  England  could  not  give  away 
what  he  did  not  own.  He  said,  too,  that  the  power  of  the 
civil  magistrates  extended  only  to  the  bodies  and  goods 
and  "  outward  state  of  men,"  or,  in  other  words,  that  there 
should  be  freedom  of  worship  and  entire  separation  of 
church  and  state.  He  made  many  other  assertions  that 
angered  the  good  Puritan  fathers,  who  were  then  in  trouble 
enough  because  of  the  enmity  of  Charles  and  Laud,  and  did 
not  wish  dispute  and  bickering  within  the  colony,  but 
longed  for  unity  of  aim  and  a  common  front  against  a  com- 
mon enemy.  They  had  no  desire  to  listen  to  "  divers  new 
and  dangerous  opinions."  The  General  Court  ordered 
Williams  away,  but  when  preparations  were  made  to  send 
him  to  England  he  fled  into  the  woods  (January,  1636).* 
He  passed  the  winter  in  the  wilderness  among  the  Indians, 
"  sorely  tossed,"  as  he  afterward  said,  "  for  fourteen  weeks 
in  a  bitter  winter  season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed 
did  mean."     The  next  summer  he  made  his  way  to  Narra- 

gansett  Bay,  and  together  with  a  few  friends 
Providence.         from  the  settlements  founded  Providence.    The 

first  government  of  this  little  colony,  which  de- 
veloped into  Rhode  Island,  was  a  simple  democracy  built 
on  the  principle  of  majority  rule.  Its  power  was  not 
to  extend  to  matters  of  conscience,  but  only  to  "civil 
things."  f 

*  For  this  controversy  and  the  character  of  Williams,  see  Doyle,  The 
English  in  America  (Puritan  Cols.),  vol.  i,  p.  153 ;  Fiske,  The  Begin- 
nings of  New  England,  p.  114. 

t  "  We  whose  names  are  hereunder,  desirous  to  inhabit  the  town  of 
Providence,  do  promise  to  subject  ourselves  in  active  and  passive  obe- 
dience to  all  such  orders  or  agreements  as  shall  be  made  for  public 
good  of  the  body  in  an  orderly  way  by  the  major  assent  of  the  present 
inhabitants,  masters  of  families  incorporated  together  into  a  town  fel- 
lowship, and  such  others  whom  they  shall  admit  unto  them,  only  in 
civil  things." 


86 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Mrs. 
Hutchinson. 


Hardly  had  Williams  disappeared  from  Massachusetts 
Bay  when  even  more  serious  difficulties  arose.  Anne 
Hutchinson,  a  brilliant  woman  "of  a  nimble 
wit  and  active  spirit,"  began  preaching  doc- 
trines that  filled  the  little  town  of  Boston  with 
excitement.  We  need  not  discuss  the  meaning  of  her 
teachings ;  to  the  modern  reader  not  versed  in  theological 
lore  her  propositions  seem  vague  and  almost  unintelligible. 
But  the  early  Bostonians  were  fond  of  religious  discussion, 
and  Mistress  Hutchinson  carried  forward  her  work  with  so 

much  skill  and  with  such 
feminine  tact  that  the  little 


commonwealth  throbbed 
with  interest.  She  came 
to  have  a  large  following, 
and  the  church  was  di- 
vided into  two  bitterly 
hostile  factions.  But  her 
enemies  prevailed  against 
her,  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
was  banished.  Thereupon 
peace  obtained  in  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  "  Not  any 
unsound,  unsavorie  and 
giddie  fancy  have  dared," 
said  a  contemporary  writer, 
"  to  lift  up  his  head  or  abide  the  light  among  us." 

Thus  we  see  that  the  Puritan  of  those  days  was  not  bent 
upon  establishing  toleration.  He  had,  in  fact,  no  patience 
with  "  giddie  fancies."  He  had  not  yet  reached 
the  good  sense  and  the  charity  that  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  Koger  Williams's  theories.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  these  men  can  not  be  justly  charged  with  inconsist- 
ency. They  came  to  found  a  settlement  where  they  could 
carry  out  their  own  ideas;  and  when  they  found  their 
project  imperiled  or  their  peace  disturbed  by  those  who 


}rovidence^£ 


^s^  &  PROVIDENCE 

PLANTATIONS 


Intolerance. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND   COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


87 


Connecticut. 


disagreed  with  them,  they  bade  these  disturbing  elements 
begone. 

With  some  of  her  followers  Mrs.  Hutchinson  went,  as 
Williams  had  done,  to  Narragansett  Bay,  and  bought  from 
the  Indians  the  island  of  Aquedneck  for  "  forty 
fathoms  of  white  beads."  This  was  later  called 
the  "  Isle  of  Rhodes,  or  Rhode  Island."  Dissensions  arose 
among  the  settlers.  So  some  of  them  went  away  and 
founded  Newport.  These  various  settlements  were  later 
united  into  one  colony,  known  as  the  Providence  Planta- 
tions (1644),  under  a  very  liberal  charter,  which  declared 
that  the  people  should  rule  themselves  "  by  such  form  of 
civil  government  as  by  the  voluntary  consent  of  all  or  the 
greatest  part  of  them  shall  be  found  most  serviceable  to 
their  estate  and  condition." 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  founding  of 
Connecticut,  a  colony  which  was  in  part  an  off- 
spring of  Massachusetts. 
In  1635,  John  Winthrop,  son  of  the  Massachusetts  gov- 
ernor, acting  for   Lord   Say  and 
Sele  and  Lord  Brooke, 

Saybrookand        who    had    obtained    a 
Hew  Haven. 

patent  for  the  land, 
established  a  colony  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River 
and  named  it  Saybrook.  A  few 
years  later  New  Haven  was 
founded. 

We  are  chiefly  interested,  how- 
ever, in  the  settlements  farther  to 

the    north    made   by 

emigrants    from    the 

older  towns  of  Massa-      Jfl^JpJnJ^fa^ 
chusetts  Bay.     It  may  be  that  this    LJ  «-iZ 

migration  was  but  a  natural  swarming  of  the  people,  but 
there  is  some  evidence  that  it  was  brought  about  by  dis- 


A  migration 

from 

Massachusetts 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

satisfaction,  and  that  the  people  moved  because  they  were 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  hard  rule  of  the  united  church 
and  state  of  Massachusetts.  The  great  leader  was  Thomas 
Hooker,  a  learned  and  eloquent  preacher  and  a  man  of 
great  personal  force.* 

Some  settlers  went  out  in  1634  and  1635.     In  the  next 

year  a  great  migration  set  in.     "  Hereing  of  ye  fame  of 

Conightecute    Eiver,  they  had    a    hankering 

The  valley         mind  after  it."    Hooker  and  a  congregation 

tOWHSi  ■       m 

of  one  hundred  or  more  made  their  way  to  the 
Connecticut  Valley  and  began  the  building  of  Hartford. f 
Within  a  year  the  new  colony  had  eight  hundred  people 
gathered  in  the  three  towns  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and 
Wethersfield. 

The  people  of  these  three  towns  were  at  first  nominally 

under  the  control  of  Massachusetts ;  but  in  1639  they  formed 

a  government  and  constitution  for  themselves. 

tionotS"  Jt  mayJustly  be  called  the  first  written  con- 
stitution springing  from  the  people  and  creat- 
ing a  government.  It  contained  no  reference  to  dread 
sovereign  or  beloved  king;  its  quiet  assumption  was  that 
the  people  had  a  right  to  rule.  Each  town  could  choose 
four  deputies  in  the  legislative  assembly,  called  the  General 
Court,  while  the  governor  and  six  magistrates  or  assistants, 
also  forming  part  of  the  General  Court,  were  elected  by  the 
whole  body  of  the  people.  It  will  thus  be  noticed  that  this 
original  Constitution  of  Connecticut  had  certain  similarities 
to  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  inasmuch 

*  "  In  matters  ....  which  concern  the  common  good,"  said  Hooker, 
"  a  general  council  chosen  by  all  to  transact  business  which  concern  all, 
I  conceive  ....  most  suitable  to  rule  and  most  safe  for  relief  of  the 
whole."  This  sentiment  was  different  from  that  of  Winthrop,  who  had 
declared  that  "  the  best  part  is  always  the  least,  and  of  that  best  part 
the  wiser  part  is  always  the  lesser."  This  difference  between  the  ideas 
of  Hooker  and  Winthrop  may  perhaps  illustrate  the  reasons  for  the 
movement  to  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

f  See  Hart,  American  History,  etc.,  vol.  i,  pp.  412,  413, 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  89 

as  the  individuality  of  the  town  was  recognized  on  the  one 
hand,  arid  the  main  body  of  the  people  on  the  other,  as  in 
our  national  system  both  the  States  and  the  whole  people 
are  represented.* 

For  some  years  the  New  England  settlers  were  not 
troubled  by  the  Indians.  But  in  1636  war  broke  out  with 
the  Pequots,  a  fierce  and  warlike  tribe.  In  the 
Pequot  War.  winter  rf  1636_>37  they  kept  the  little  Connec- 
ticut towns  in  continual  fear.  The  next  summer  a  small 
band  of  white  men,  some  seventy-seven  in  number,  attacked 
the  Indians  in  their  palisaded  town.  One  of  the  leaders  of 
this  party  thus  briefly  tells  the  story :  "  It  is  reported  by 
themselves  that  there  were  about  four  hundred  souls  in  this 
fort,  and  not  five  of  them  escaped  out  of  our  hands."  Thus 
the  Pequots  were  exterminated.  It  was  a  sharp  lesson  to  the 
Indians  of  the  surrounding  country.  Not  till  forty  years 
later,  when  the  fate  of  the  Pequots  was  in  part  forgotten, 
did  the  savages  dare  again  to  begin  war  upon  the  whites. 

A  settlement  was  made  within  the  present  limits  of  New 
Hampshire  soon  after  the  founding  of  Plymouth.  Possibly 
this  continued  to  exist.  However  this  may  be, 
amps  ).  a  Y[^\e  iater  a  permanent  settlement  was  made 
at  Dover  (before  1628).  Other  settlements  followed.  In 
a  short  time  these  towns  were  made  part  of  Massachusetts 
(1641-'43).  Thus  the  history  of  New  Hampshire  is  part  of 
that  of  the  older  colony  until  1679. 

Mason  and  Gorges,  two  Englishmen  who  were  for  many 

years  interested  in  colonization,  obtained  at  an  early  day  a 

grant  to  all  the  land  between  the  Merrimac  and 

the  Kennebec.    This  property  was  later  divided, 

and  Mason  became  possessed  of  the  territory  between  the 

Merrimac  and  the  Piscataqua.    Gorges  received  the  remain- 

*  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  the  Federal  Convention  (1787)  the 
compromise  in  accordance  with  which  our  national  arrangement  was 
agreed  upon  was  called  the  "  Connecticut  compromise."  Students  will 
find  this  treated  of  in  Johnston's  Connecticut,  p.  219,  etc. 


90 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


der.    Mason's  share  was,  roughly  speaking,  New  Hampshire, 
and  this  part,  as  we  have  seen,  was  after  a  time  annexed  to 

Massachusetts.  On 
Gorges's  portion  of 
this  grant  there 
were  a  number  of 
little  settlements, 
some  of  them  made 
quite  early  in  the 
history  of  New 
England.*  But 
they  grew  very 
slowly,  and  a  trav- 
eler who  sailed 
along  the  coast  in 
1638  described  the 
region  as  "  no  other 
than  a  mere  wilder- 
ness, with  here  and 
there  by  the  sea- 
side a  few  scattered 
plantations  with  a 
few  houses."  \  The  province  was  absorbed  by  Massachu- 
setts (1652-'58).  Thus  we  see  that  Massachusetts  became 
possessed  of  all  the  New  England  coast  north  of  Plymouth. 
Almost  immediately  after  the  founding  of  Connecticut 
there  was  some  discussion  as  to  the  advisability  of  forming 
a  league  among  the  various  New  England  colo- 
nies. The  purpose  of  combining  was  to  secure 
mutual  protection.  The  Pequot  War  had  shown  the  danger 
of  an  Indian  outbreak.  Moreover,  the  Dutch  on  the  Hud- 
son were  troublesome  and  ambitious  neighbors,  while  the 

*  In  1639  Gorges  was  made  Lord  Proprietor  of  Maine. 

f  "  In  this  province,"  said  an  English  commission  in  1665,  "  there 
are  but  few  Townes,  and  those  much  scattered  as  generally  they  are 
throughout  New  England.     They  are  rather  farmes  than  Townes." 


TLA   N  T  I  C 


OCEAN 


Need  of  union. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  91 

French  at  the  north,  though  seemingly  afar  off,  had  already 
shown  that  they  were  near  enough  to  cause  uneasiness  if 
not  danger. 

A  union  was  therefore  formed.  With  Massachusetts, 
the  strongest  of  all,  were  joined  Connecticut,  Plymouth, 
New  England  an(^  -^ew  Haven.  A  written  constitution  was 
confederation,  adopted,  whereby  was  formed  "  The  United 
1643--84,  Colonies  of  New  England."    The  association 

was  declared  to  be  a  "  firm  and  perpetual  league  of  friend- 
ship." Its  affairs  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  eight  com- 
missioners, whose  right  it  was  to  determine  upon  all  mat- 
ters of  common  interest  to  the  members  of  the  league, 
"which  were  the  proper  concomitants  or  consequents  of 
such  a  confederation  of  amity,  offence,  and  defence."  The 
confederation  lasted  some  years,  in  fact  not  entirely  disap- 
pearing until  1684.  It  must  have  had  an  important  effect 
on  the  later  history  of  America.  Eighty  years  passed  by 
before  the  popular  representatives  from  all  the  colonies 
came  together  to  protest  against  the  novel  laws  of  England, 
and  to  body  forth  the  real  unity  of  interest  of  the  settle- 
ments scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast;  but  a  remem- 
brance of  the  New  England  confederation  could  not  have 
died  out  during  these  eighty  years,  and  it  doubtless  aided 
in  the  work  of  forming  a  perpetual  union.* 

In  these  years  the  people  of  Massachusetts  had  trouble 
with  the  Quakers.  Members  of  this  sect  were,  as  a  rule, 
men  and  women  of  great  purity  and  sweetness 
of  the  Quakers.  °^  character,  but  their  doctrines  were  pecul- 
iarly obnoxious  to  the  Puritans;  and  when 
some  of  them  came  to  New  England  and  dared  to  call  the 
people  of  Boston  to  repentance,  they  were  met  with  perse- 
cution. At  first  the  unwelcome  intruders  were  banished ; 
but  they  boldly  returned,  and  were  hanged  on  Boston  Com- 

*  "  In  the  federation  of  the  New  England  colonies  we  see  the  germ 
and  the  foreshadowing  of  the  united  republics."  (Doyle,  English  in 
America  [Puritan  Cols.],  vol.  i,  p.  i.) 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

mon.  Four  were  thus  punished.  The  public  sentiment 
of  Massachusetts,  however,  revolted  at  the  cruelty,  and  the 
law  imposing  the  death  penalty  was  modified.  For  some 
years  after  this  the  Quakers  were  imprisoned,  or  whipped 
out  of  the  colonies  at  the  cart's  tail ;  but  before  long  these 
punishments  also  ceased.*  A  freer  and  nobler  sentiment 
slowly  grew  up  in  New  England.  Men  came  to  see  at  length 
the  folly  and  the  sinfulness  of  coercion  and  persecution  in 
matters  of  religion. 

From  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  in  England  (1642) 
until  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  (1660)  New  England 
was  allowed  to  govern  itself;  but  Charles  II 
charters  was  nardly   seated   on    his  throne  before  he 

turned  his  attention  to  America.  New  Haven 
had  received  and  sheltered  two  of  the  fugitive  judges  of 
the  court  that  had  condemned  his  royal  father  to  death. 
Spite  of  its  protestations,  it  was  now  annexed  to  Connecti- 
cut. The  latter  colony  was  given  a  liberal  charter,  which 
became  very  dear  to  the  people.  Ehode  Island,  too,  re- 
ceived a  new  charter.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Charles 
II,  who  in  England  gave  no  sign  of  loving  free  government, 
should  have  granted  these  two  charters,  so  liberal  and  good 
that  the  people  cherished  them  and  kept  them  as  their  fun- 
damental constitutions  well  down  into  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, f  The  charter  and  the  independence  of  Massachusetts 
were  threatened  at  the  time,  for  the  king  looked  upon  the 
colony  with  suspicion  ;  but  this  danger  was  for  the  time 
being  avoided. 

Since  the  time  of  the  Pequot  outbreak  there  had  been 

*  See  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England,  pp.  180,  181.  In  Hart, 
American  History,  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  479,  will  be  found  The  Justification  of 
Mary  Dyer,  one  of  the  Quakers  that  was  hanged ;  also  the  trial  of  Win- 
lock  Christison,  p.  481.  Christison  was  condemned  to  death,  but  public 
sentiment  prevented  the  execution. 

f  The  charter  of  Rhode  Island  (1663)  continued  to  be  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State  until  1843.     Connecticut  preserved  hers  until  1818. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700. 


93 


New  England,  1650. 

no  serious  trouble  with  the  Indians.     There  came  to  be  a 
sense  of  security  even  in  the  frontier  towns.     But  this  feel- 
ing was  dispelled  by  the  outbreak  of  war  in  the 

Wa?  1675P-'76.  summer  of  1675'  The  red  men'  led  ^  Philip> 
an  able  chieftain,  attacked  the  outlying  set- 
tlements and  inflicted  much  loss  and  suffering  upon  the 
settlers.  The  next  summer  Philip  was  killed,  and  the  war 
soon  ended.  And  yet  from  this  time  on  the  frontier  settle- 
ments were  at  no  time  quite  secure.  For  fifty  years  and 
more  the  Indians,  now  in  alliance  with  the  French  at  the 
north,  continued  to  be  a  constant  menace.  Years  might  go 
by  without  an  outbreak,  but  at  some  unexpected  moment 
an  outlying  settlement  would  be  suddenly  attacked,  men 
would  be  shot  at  their  work,  women  and  children  murdered. 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  hardy  New  Englanders  pushed  the  frontier  back  from 
the  sea  in  the  face  of  this  ever-present  danger. 

New  dangers  now  threatened  the  people  of  the  northern 

colonies.     Charles  II  was  not  so  headstrong  and  obstinate 

as  his  father,  but  he  was  no  friend  of  free  gov- 

CharactM  of        ernment,  and  he  detested  a  Puritan.     Without 

Charles  II,  ' 

virtue  himself,  given  over  to  corruption  and 
vice,  he  looked  upon  goodness  as  merely  the  trick  of  a 
hypocrite,  by  which  only  a  fool  could  be  cheated.  He  was 
too  wise  to  set  himself  deliberately  against  his  Parliament 
or  to  endanger  his  own  head,  and  he  was  determined,  as  he 
said,  "  not  to  go  on  his  travels  again  " ;  but  he  did  "  not 
think  he  was  a  king  so  long  as  a  company  of  fellows  were 
looking  into  his  actions  and  examining  his  ministers  as 
well  as  his  accounts."  He  was  quite  ready,  to  take  a  hand 
in  demolishing  free  government  in  Massachusetts,  where  he 
could  act  more  tyrannically  than  he  dared  at  home.  But  he 
was  playing  a  dangerous  game.  The  spirit  of  liberty  was 
not  dead  among  Englishmen  on  either  side  of  the  ocean. 
Many  persons  in  England,  as  Pepys  said,  had  begun  before 
this  time  to  "  reflect  upon  Oliver  and  commend  him,  what 
brave  things  he  did,  and  make  all  the  neighbor  princes  fear 
him."  * 

One  of  the  first  steps  against  Massachusetts  was  to  take 
New  Hampshire  from  her  and  make  it  a  royal  province,  the 

first  in  New  England.  Moreover,  the  old  char- 
ftucked?8ettS     ter  of  Massachusetts  was  annulled,  the  charter 

under  which  this  great  Puritan  commonwealth 
had  grown  and  prospered  and  become  the  mother  of  colo- 
nies. Before  Charles  could  carry  out  his  plans  to  the  full 
he  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  James.  It  is  said 
of  Charles  that  he  never  spoke  a  foolish  word  or  did  a  wise 
thing ;  but  James,  utterly  lacking  in  tact  and  brightness, 
was  incapable  alike  of  wise  speech  or  sensible  action.     He 

*  Read  Green,  Short  History  of  England,  chap,  ix,  sec.  iii. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700.  95 

sent  to  New  England  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  a  rough,  coarse 
soldier  who,  though  not  personally  dissolute  or  addicted  to 
political  corruption,  was  a  fit  instrument  of  tyranny.  He 
was  empowered  to  bring  the  various  New  England  colonies 
under  his  rule.  All  political  power  was  taken  from  the 
people  and  vested  in  the  hands  of  this  arrogant  governor 
and  a  council.  He  could  make  laws  and  levy  taxes,  and 
had,  indeed,  full  right  to  disregard  in  every  respect  those 
fundamental  principles  and  practices  of  freedom  and  self- 
government  which  had  become  dear  to  the  people  and  part 
of  their  very  life.  "  All  those  devices  of  tyranny  which  Eng- 
lishmen had  resisted,  even  where  they  were  rare  and  excep- 
tional, were  now  adopted  as  part  of  the  regular  machinery 
of  government."  *  He  carried  out  his  instructions  with 
soldierly  thoroughness.  The  General  Court  was  abolished. 
The  town  meetings  were  limited  to  one  a  year.  Place 
hunters  and  greedy  officials  came  to  prey  upon  the  people. 

Andros  next  brought  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut 
under  his  sway,  and  then  New  York  and  New  Jersey.     But 

his  power  did  not  last  long.     The  people  of 

England  might  put  up  with  the  smiling,  pleas- 
ure-loving tyrant  Charles,  but  they  soon  grew  weary  of  his 
tactless,  stubborn  brother  James.  In  1688  they  deposed 
him,  and  William  and  Mary  took  the  throne.  Early  in  the 
next  year  news  of  this  glorious  fact  reached  New  England. 
The  people  rejoiced ;  militia  poured  into  Boston  from  the 

surrounding  country;  Andros  and  his  agents 
overthrown         °^  tyrannv  were  seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  f 

Liberty  and  self-government  were  not  yet  gone 
from  New  England. 

William  III  was  no  tyrant,  and  he  had  a  plentiful  fund 
of  common  sense.  He  did  not  believe,  however,  in  letting 
the  colonies  go  their  own  way  without  guidance  or  control. 

*  Doyle,  The  English  in  America  (The  Puritan  Colonies),  vol.  ii,  p. 
305. 

fRead  the  account  in  Hart,  American  History,  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  463. 


96  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  allowed  to  go  on  under 

their  old  charters,  but  Massachusetts  was  given  a  new  one 

(1691).     It  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a 

A  new  onarter.  , .  *  ,  , 

governor,  lieutenant  governor,  and  secretary  by 
the  crown ;  the  assistants,  or  councilors,  and  the  representa- 
tives constituted  with  the  governor  the  General  Court.  The 
representatives  were  to  be  elected  by  the  towns ;  but  the 
assistants  and  representatives  together  chose  each  year  the 
assistants  for  the  ensuing  term.  The  religious  qualifica- 
tion for  voting  was  abolished.  Plymouth  was  added  to 
Massachusetts.  Maine  and  Acadia  also  belonged  to  her. 
Thus  the  colony  held  the  coast,  with  the  exception  of  the 
territory  of  New  Hampshire,  from  Martha's  Vineyard  to  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

The  tyranny  of  Andros  doubtless  taught  its  lesson  to 
the   New  Englanders.      Seventy-five  years  later  men  re- 
membered this    attack    upon    their  liberties. 

reannSSOnSOf  Had  the  Plans  of  James  worked  smoothly  at 
home,  the  boasted  freedom  of  England  would 
have  disappeared.  Had  his  plans  been  carried  out  in  Amer- 
ica, free  colonial  life  would  have  been  crushed  out.  But 
the  revolution  of  1688  saved  the  liberties  of  England  and 
America,  and  in  the  next  century  the  colonies  strengthened 
their  hold  upon  principles  of  self-government.  When, 
under  another  king,  George  III,  the  Parliament  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  the  fundamental  teachings  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  and  their  own  revolution,  the  American 
people,  true  to  the  established  doctrines  of  English  liberty, 
resisted  encroachments  on  their  rights. 

References. 
Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  112-177;  Fisher, 
The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  82-176 ;  Eggleston,  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation, 
pp.  98-220,  266-346.  Longer  accounts:  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New 
England;  Bancroft,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  177-407,  584-589,  also 
Volume  II,  pp.  47-69 ;  Doyle,  The  English  in  America,  The  Puritan 
Colonies. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Middle  Colonies— 1609-1700. 

NEW  YORK. 

1^  the  seventeenth  century  Holland  was  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  and  progressive  countries  of  Europe. 
While  Elizabeth  was  on  the  throne  of  England 
this  sturdy  little  Netherland  nation  was  en- 
gaged in  a  long  fierce  fight  against  the  tyranny  of  Spain — a 
fight  full  of  deeds  of  daring  and  of  bravery  beyond  com- 
pare. It  came  out  of  this  conflict  a  self-reliant  people — 
stronger,  more  vigorous  than  ever  before — while  the  power 
of  Spain,  the  mighty  oppressor,  was  checked.  Now,  just  as 
England  was  getting  ready  to  colonize  and  to  build  up  her 
great  states  in  the  New  World,  brave  little  Holland  was  a 
serious  rival.  The  Dutch  were  the  carriers  of  Europe.  In 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  are  said  to  have 
had  half  the  carrying  trade  of  the  Continent.  Amsterdam 
was  a  great  mart  of  trade.  It  was  to  be  expected  that 
when  the  sails  of  Holland  were  on  every  sea  there  would  be 
some  attempt  to  secure  a  hold  upon  America. 

The  Dutch  merchants  were  interested  in  commerce  with 
the  East  Indies,  and  Henry  Hudson,  an  English  mariner 
in  the  employ  of  a  Dutch  company,  sought  to 
solve  the  old  problem  of  finding  a  snorter  route 
to  the  silks  and  spices  of  the  East.  Baffled  in  an  effort  to 
discover  a  passage  to  the  northeast — north  of  Europe — he 
turned  westward  to  seek  a  way  through  or  north  of  America. 
He  was  moved  to  this,  it  is  said,  "  by  some  letters  and  maps 

97 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

which  his  friend  Captain  Smith  had  sent  him  from  Vir- 
ginia." In  August,  1609,  he,  with  his  ship,  the  Half  Moon, 
sailed  into  Delaware  Bay,  and  a  month  later  entered  the 
noble  river  that  was  to  bear  his  name.  He  sailed  north  as 
far,  perhaps,  as  the  present  site  of  Albany.  He  found  no 
route  to  India,  but  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  beauties 
of  the  country,  and  returned  to  Holland  to  recount  his 
travels  and  to  report  that  from  the  natives,  who  inhabited 
the  new-found  land,  furs  could  be  had  almost  for  the  ask- 
ing— for  baubles  and  trinkets  and  gewgaws. 

Thus  Hudson  opened  up  to  the  Dutch  a  new  trade,  and 
the  merchants  of  Amsterdam  were  not  slow  in  taking  ad- 
vantage of  it.     Traders  soon  found  their  way 
The  West  India    t     the  bankg   Qf  the   new  river  to  traffic  with 
Company  i 

the  natives.  Trading  stations  were  founded. 
Finally  a  company  was  organized  and  granted  immense 
power  (1621).  It  was  given  supreme  dominion  on  the 
whole  coast  of  America,  the  right  to  employ  soldiers  in  the 
name  of  the  States-General  of  Holland,  to  make  treaties, 
and  to  maintain  courts.  To  this  West  India  Company  Hol- 
land transferred  her  prospects  in  the  New  World.  A  thor- 
oughly successful  colony  could  not  arise  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  company  whose  only  end  was  gain. 

The  first  colony  under  the  new  company  was  sent  over 
in   1623.      The   most   important   settlement   was   at   Fort 

Orange,  where  Albany  now  stands.  The  set- 
New  Nether-       ^erg  were  distributed  here  and  there  about  the 

lands^ 

country,  some  going  to  Delaware  River,  others 
to  the  Connecticut,  while  some  settled  on  Manhattan  and 
on  Long  Island.  The  Dutch  claimed  all  the  territory  as 
"  New  Netherlands  "  from  the  Delaware  to  the  Connecticut, 
including  the  navigation  of  these  rivers.  Had  they  con- 
centrated their  forces  and  sought  to  secure  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson  and  the  immediate  neighborhood,  they  might 
have  been  more  successful. 

The  company  next  took  steps  to  establish  a  semi-feudal 


Van  deb  Donck's  Map  of  New  Netherlands,  1656. 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

class  in  the  new  land.  Men  of  wealth  were  induced  to 
take  up  landed  estates.  Each  person  establishing  a  colony 
of  fifty  persons  over  fifteen  years  of  age  was 
epa  '  entitled  to  become  the  owner  and  ruler  of  a 
strip  of  country  on  the  banks  of  some  river  sixteen  miles 
in  width,  or  eight  miles  where  both  banks  were  occu- 
pied, and  stretching  back  from  the  river  indefinitely. 
This  was  a  principality  of  no  mean  dimensions,  and  several 
men  at  once  took  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  become 
petty  monarchs.  They  were  known  as  "  patroons,"  or  pa- 
trons. Although  this  plan  had  the  immediate  effect  of 
bringing  in  new  settlers,  it  was,  on  the  whole,  not  well 
adapted  to  promote  the  healthful  growth  of  a  free  com- 
monwealth. The  patroons  could  not  be  expected  to  be 
zealous  for  the  growth  of  political  equality  or  for  the  gen- 
eral development  of  the  colony. 

There  is  little  to  interest  us  in  the  history  of  this  Dutch 
province  after  it  was  fairly  settled.     There  were  some  seri- 
ous troubles  with  the  Algonquin  Indians,  but 

detent?4  the  friendshiP  of  the  Iroquois  was  secured 
by  careful  and  considerate  treatment.  With 
them  the  Dutch  carried  on  considerable  traffic,  but  the 
progress  of  the  colony  was  slow.  The  company,  anxious  to 
make  an  immediate  profit  from  its  possessions,  took  little 
interest  in  building  up  a  commonwealth.  There  is  doubt- 
less much  truth  in  the  complaints  of  those  in  the  colony 
who  were  struggling  for  more  self-government  and  a  more 
liberal  administration.  "  It  seems,"  they  said,  "  as  if  from 
the  first  the  company  had  sought  to  stock  this  land  with 
their  own  employes,  which  was  a  great  mistake,  for  when 
their  time  was  out  they  returned  home,  taking  nothing 
with  them,  except  a  little  in  their  purses  and  a  bad  name 
for  the  country.  .  .  .  The  directors  here,  though  far  from 
their  masters,  were  close  by  their  profit.  .  .  .  They  have 
also  conducted  themselves  just  as  if  they  were  the  sov- 
ereigns of  the  country.     In  our  opinion,  this  country  will 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 16Q9-KOC. 


1:0-1 


EUROPEAN  POSSESSIONS  1650 

BASED  ON  EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENT. 
|~~|    ENGLISH  POSSESSIONS  tZU    DUTCH    POSSESSIONS 

| 1  FRENCH  "  CD  SWEDISH  " 

CD  SPANISH " 


never  flourish   under   the   government   of  the   Honorable 

Company." 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  great  King  of  Sweden,  one  of 

the  great  generals  of  history,  was  interested  in  founding  a 
colony  in  America.  He  took  part  in  forming 
a  company,  but  his  death  prevented  his  plan 

from  being  carried  out  for  some  years.     Queen  Christina 

and  Oxenstiern,  the  famous  minister  of  Adolphus,  entered 


New  Sweden. 


10>2  HL*T0JIY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

anew  upon  the  enterprise.  An  expedition  was  sent  out  in 
1638,  and  a  fort,  called  Fort  Christina,  was  established  on 
the  Delaware  Eiver  where  Wilmington  now  stands.*  The 
country  was  called  New  Sweden.  This  ground  was  claimed 
by  the  Dutch,  and  of  course  dissensions  ensued.  In  1655, 
after  some  years  of  wrangling,  Fort  Christina  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Dutch,  and  New  Sweden  disappeared. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  Holland  and  England  were 
strong  commercial  rivals.  The  New  Englanders  had  already 
NewNetherland  engaged  in  sundry  controversies  with  their 
becomes  neighbor  over  the  control  of  the  Connecticut. 

New  York,  Soon  after  the  accession  of  Charles  II  it  was 

determined  to  seize  the  Dutch  possessions,  and  in  1664  an 
English  fleet  appeared  before  Fort  Amsterdam.  The  place 
was  in  no  condition  for  defense.  Stuyvesant,  the  Director 
General,  fumed  and  strutted,  and  swore  he  would  rather  be 
carried  to  his  grave  than  surrender;  but  the  frightened 
townspeople  besought  him  to  yield,  and  the  white  flag  was 
soon  run  up.  Dutch  rule  in  America  was  over.  The  Eng- 
lish now  held  possession  of  the  whole  Atlantic  coast  north 
of  the  Spanish  Floridas  and  south  of  the  French  claims  in 
Acadia.  Ten  years  later  (1673-74)  Holland  secured  pos- 
session of  her  old  colony  for  a  time,  but  at  the  end  of  the 
war  between  the  two  countries  England  gained  it  again. 
Charles  II  gave  the  newly  acquired  territory  to  his  brother 
James,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  it  was  rechristened  New 
York.  When  James  became  king,  in  1685,  the  colony  be- 
came a  royal  colony. 

Although  Dutch  customs  and  habits  were  not  rudely 

overturned  by  the  conquerors  of  the   new  province,  the 

English  accession  brought  better  government. 

Local  Forms  of  local  government  were  introduced  at 

government.  ° 

once ;  the  so-called  "  Duke's  laws  "  were  issued 
providing  for  town  meetings  for  the  election  of  town  offi- 

*  The  Dutch  head,  as  early  as  1623,  founded  Fort  Nassau,  just  below 
the  site  of  Philadelphia. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1609-1700. 


103 


The  revolution. 


^>v£~- 


cers.  In  the  course  of  the  next  few  years  the  system  devel- 
oped. The  towns  were  represented  in  a  board  of  county 
supervisors,  whose  chief 
duty  it  was  to  apportion 
taxes  and  to  look  after  the 
general  financial  needs  of 
the  county.  Not  till  1683 
did  New  York  have  an 
assembly  like  the  other 
colonies. 

King  James  cherished 
the  hope  of  bringing  all 
the  northern  colonies  un- 
der one  royal  governor. 
Andros,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, had 
come  to  New 
England  to  be  general  gov- 
ernor, and  in  1688  he  was 
put  in  charge  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  as  well.  He  had 
his  seat  of  government  in  Boston,  but  was  represented  in 
New  York  by  a  deputy.  The  revolution  in  England  made 
an  end  of  James's  tyranny  there,  and  as  soon  as  the  people 
of  New  York  heard  of  this  event  they  rose,  drove  out  their 
royal  deputy,  and  proclaimed  William  as  their  new  sover- 
eign. This  revolt  was  headed  by  an  impetuous  German  by 
the  name  of  Jacob  Leisler,  who,  once  in  the 
lead,  wished  to  remain  there,  and  assumed  the 
powers  of  government,  which  he  wielded  in  arbitrary  and 
reckless  fashion.  When  the  new  governor  appointed  by  the 
king  came  to  take  possession,  Leisler  hesitated  to  surrender 
the  colony.  This  he  was  soon  forced  to  do,  however,  and  a 
short  time  after  he  was  hanged  for  treason,  the  order  for 
his  execution,  it  is  said,  being  signed  by  the  governor  while 
under  the  influence  of  drink.     It  is  a  curious  fact  that 

Leisler  was  instrumental  in  summoning  the  first  general 
8 


Cffixf 


Leisler. 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

colonial  Congress,  which  met  in  Albany  in  1690.  Its  pur- 
pose was  to  consider  means  of  mutual  protection  against 
the  French  and  Indians. 

At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  New  York  was  a 
strong  and  successful  colony,  although  her  population  was 

as  yet  not  large — perhaps  twenty-five  thousand 
t?*o5aro  °f       inhabitants,  including  negro  slaves.    Trade  and 

agriculture  both  flourished.  The  Dutch  were 
the  largest  landowners,  and  they  still  retained  their  own 
dress  and  followed  their  own  customs  without  much  refer- 
ence to  the  invading  Englishman.  The  steady  conservative 
spirit  of  the  Hollander  doubtless  continued  to  influence  the 
life  of  New  York  for  many  decades ;  but  even  at  this  early 
day  men  of  many  nations  had  come  hither.  It  had  become 
"  a  community  of  many  tongues,  of  many  customs,  of  many 
faiths."  Partly  because  of  this  diversity  of  population  the 
colony  did  not  have  so  marked  an  influence  in  our  colonial 
history  or  play  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  development  of 
our  political  ideals  as  did  the  more  homogeneous  colonies  of 
the  south  or  of  New  England. 

References. 
Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  196-210;  Fisher, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Chapter  IX;  Lodge,  Short  History,  pp.  285-302. 
Longer  accounts :  Bancroft,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  475-527,  577-582 ; 
Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  339-369,  429-449 ; 
Tuckerman,  Peter  Stuyvesant ;  Roberts,  New  York,  pp.  1-185;  Roose- 
velt, New  York;  M.  W.  Goodman,  A.  C.  Royce,  R.  Putnam,  Historic 
New  York,  pp.  1-191 ;  Fiske,  Dutch  and  Quaker  Cols.,  Volume  I. 

NEW  JERSEY— 1664-1700. 

What  is  now  the  State  of  New  Jersey  was  part  of  the 
territory  claimed  by  the  Dutch  under  the  name  of  New 
Netherlands.  Before  the  English  seized  the  country  some- 
thing had  been  done  to  settle  this  part,  although  it  had  not 
developed,  as  might  have  been  expected,  in  the  fifty  years 
of  Dutch  occupancy.     The  Duke  of  York,  as  proprietor  of 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1609-1700.  105 

the  territory  newly  acquired,  ceded  (1664)  this   southern 

portion,  lying  between  the  Delaware  River  and  the  sea,  to 

Lord  John  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret. 

The  first  rj^g  new  provjnce  was  named  New  Csesaria  or 

settlement.  r 

New  Jersey,  in  honor  of  Carteret,  who  as  gov- 
ernor of  the  island  of  Jersey  had  heroically  defended  it 
against  the  Parliamentarians  during  the  great  rebellion. 
The  proprietors  at  once  issued  a  document  known  as  "  the 
Concessions,"  which  outlined  a  form  of  government  and  laid 
down  various  rules  for  the  administration  of  the  colony. 
This  formed  practically  the  first  Constitution  of  New  Jersey, 
and  as  it  was  broad  and  liberal  in  its  terms  it  was  cherished 
by  the  people  as  a  charter  of  liberties.  There  were  some 
settlers  already  in  the  province  who  had  come  in  under  the 
Dutch  rule.  In  1665  Philip  Carteret,  a  nephew  of  the  pro- 
prietor, came  out  as  governor,  bringing  with  him  a  small 
body  of  Englishmen.  The  settlement  thus  founded  was 
given  the  name  of  Elizabeth,  in  honor  of  Lady  Carteret. 
Other  settlements  were  made  soon  after  this,  emigrants 
from  the  other  colonies,  especially  from  New  England, 
coming  in  to  take  advantage  of  the  privileges  offered  by 
the  new  proprietors.     No  provision  was  made  at  first  for  a 

legislative   body,   inasmuch    as    the    "  Conces- 
ssem  y.     g'ons  w  provec[  sufficient  f or  the  simple  needs  of 
the  young  colony.    But  in  1668  an  assembly  was  summoned, 
and  the  legislative  history  of  New  Jersey  was  begun. 

Berkeley  finally  became  weary  of  the  bickerings  and  dis- 
putes and  sold  his  share  to  some  Quakers,  and  this  interest 

finally  passed  into  the  hands  of  William  Penn 

divided0117  an(^  a  ^ew  °^  ^s  asso°iates.  About  this  time 
(1674)  the  colony  was  divided  into  two  parts, 
Carteret  obtaining  East  Jersey.  The  Quakers,  to  whom  fell 
the  western  portion,  now  entered  upon  the  task  of  legisla- 
tion and  control.  Outcasts  and  outlaws  in  other  organized 
states,  how  would  they  legislate  when  the  power  and 
responsibility  came  into  their  hands  ?    Their  first  acts  were 


106 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


East  New 
Jersey. 


marked  by  a  generous  and  kindly  spirit,  and  breathed  a 
true  democracy.  "  We  lay,"  they  said,  "  a  foundation  for 
Th  0  k  r  a^er  a£es  to  understand  their  liberty  as  Chris- 
in  West  New  tians  and  as  men,  that  they  may  not  be  brought 
Jersey.  m^0  bondage  but  by  their  own  consent ;  for  we 

put  the  power  in  the  people."  Many  Quakers,  glad  to  find 
a  refuge  from  oppression,  now  made  their  way  to  the  new 
colony. 

Shortly  after  this  George  Carteret  died,  and  his  rights 
in  East  Jersey  were  sold  to  Penn  and  twenty-three  asso- 
ciates. These  associates  were  not  all  Quakers ; 
there  were  among  them  Presbyterians  from 
Scotland,  dissenters,  and  Catholics.  Within  a 
few  years  many  Scotch  came  over,  and  thus  began  the 
strong  Scotch  and  Presbyterian  element  of  New  Jersey. 
In  the  meantime  there  had  been  great  trouble  with  An- 

dros,  the  duke's  governor 
in  New  York,  who  set  up 
certain  claims  of  right  in 
East  Jersey,  and  could 
not  refrain  from  annoy- 
ing interference  in  the 
colony.  After  a  time 
the  rights  of  the  proprie- 
tors were  acquired  by 
the  crown  (1702),  and 
the  two  Jerseys  united 
into  one  became  a  royal 
colony. 

The  history  of  New 
Jersey  in  these  early 
days  can  scarcely  be 
called  interesting.  There 
is  a  certain  lack  of  unity 
and  purpose  in  the  col- 
ony ;  it  was  not  a  great 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1609-1700.  107 

experiment  in  religion  and  politics  like  ~New  England,  nor 

had  it  the  picturesque  qualities  of  the  southern  colonies. 

Despite  legislative  wranglings  and  proprietary 

Character  of       disputes,  the   colony  prospered   steadily  and 

the  colony.  *  '  .  .    ^     r       ^  .  J 

soberly,  growing  into  a  substantial  common- 
wealth. Farming  was  almost  the  sole  occupation.  There 
was  no  effort  to  build  up  diversified  interests,  and  all 
through  the  next  century  the  colony  was  commercially 
dependent  on  New  York  or  on  the  more  prosperous  and 
vigorous  colony  which  grew  up  on  its  western  border. 

References. 

Short  account  :  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  210-215  ;  Fisher, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Chapter  X  ;  Lodge,  Short  History,  pp.  263-267  ; 
Bancroft,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  520-523  and  546-551,  also  Volume 
II,  pp.  31-33  ;  Hildreth,  History,  Volume  II,  pp.  51-61  and  216-218  ; 
Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  II,  pp.  472-480. 


PENNSYLVANIA  AND  DELAWARE— 1681-1700. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  Friends,  or  Quakers, 
some  of  whom  early  came  into  various  colonies,  and  were 
there  treated  with  great  harshness.  This  sect 
Quakers  m  wag  an  jmp0rtant  element  in  English  coloniza- 
tion.  Three  of  the  colonies,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Delaware,  were  built  up  largely  under  their 
guidance  and  influence.  It  thus  happened  that  the  very 
central  portion  of  the  English  domain  in  America  felt  the 
impress  of  the  beliefs  and  ideals  of  these  people.  It  is 
worth  while,  therefore,  to  examine  the  beginnings  of  the 
sect  and  to  notice  the  characteristics  of  its  faith ;  for,  as 
these  people  controlled  for  many  years  so  much  territory, 
and  were  not  few  in  numbers,  it  is  probable  that  their  be- 
liefs and  modes  of  thought  have  been  wrought  in  part  into 
the  national  character.  These  three  Quaker  colonies  were 
directly  influenced  by  the  ideals  of  the  sect. 

The  religion  of  the  Society  of  Friends  had  its  beginnings 


108  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

in  the  mind  of  George  Fox,  the  son  of  an  English  weaver. 
He  had  been  placed  as  apprentice  with  a  shoemaker,  but 
his  master  was  also  engaged  in  keeping  sheep, 
and  George,  during  part  of  his  apprenticeship, 
was  given  the  task  of  watching  the  flocks,  a  business  well 
suited  to  his  quiet  spirit.  He  became  deeply  distressed 
for  the  safety  of  his  soul.  These  were  the  tumultuous  years 
of  the  great  rebellion,  and  the  country  was  filled  with  clam- 
oring sects,  each  claiming  to  have  the  true  light  and  to  be 
the  only  way.  But  from  none  of  the  priests  or  preachers 
could  he  find  help.  Some  ridiculed,  some  abused  him ;  none 
were  able  to  bring  light  to  the  darkened  soul  of  the  poor 
shoemaker's  apprentice.  He  seems  to  have  been  woefully 
cast  down,  in  a  sort  of  ecstasy  of  misery,  when  the  truth 
began  to  dawn  upon  him  that  the  blind  could  not  lead  the 
blind,  that  "  being  bred  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  was  not 
enough  to  qualify  men  to  be  ministers  of  Christ,"  that  all 
the  learning  of  the  universities  could  not  lead  a  man  to 
heaven.  "  Thus  he  grew  to  a  knowledge  of  divine  things, 
without  the  help  of  any  man,  book,  or  writing,"  and  there 
shone  as  into  his  very  inmost  soul  the  strong  truth  that 
there  is  a  living  God.  He  came  to  believe  that  each  person 
is  given  light  from  on  high,  that  every  one  is  called  upon  to 
follow  the  guidance  of  that  "inner  light."  These  words 
contain  the  Quaker's  creed.  "  The  Quaker,"  says  Bancroft, 
"  has  but  one  word,  the  in^er  light,  the  voice  of  God  in 
the  soul.  That  light  is  a  reality,  and  therefore  in  its  free- 
dom the  highest  revelation  of  truth ;  ...  it  shines  in  every 
man's  breast,  and  therefore  joins  the  whole  human  race  in 
the  unity  of  equal  rights."  * 

Fox  was  moved  to  preach,  and  soon  made  many  con- 
verts. Those  who  embraced  his  doctrines  became  in  turn 
imbued  with  the  desire  to  win  men  to  repentance.  Messen- 
gers of  the  new  faith  wandered  over  Europe,  calling  upon 

*  Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  535. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1609-1700.  109 

all  to  be  guided  by  the  light  in  their  own  souls.  Fox  was 
ridiculed,  beaten,  thrust  into  prison,  but  his  courage  waxed 
ever  stronger,  and  his  followers  rapidly  in- 
?*jPJ*  of  creased.  Everywhere  the  Quakers  were  perse- 
cuted, but  they  persisted  in  the  faith.  The 
courage  and  devotion  of  the  sect  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
story  that,  when  Fox  was  in  Lanceston  jail,  one  of  his 
people  called  upon  Cromwell  and  asked  to  be  imprisoned 
in  his  stead.  "  Which  of  you,"  said  Cromwell,  turning  to 
his  council,  "  would  do  as  much  for  me  if  I  were  in  the 
same  condition?" 

Quakerism  cherished  the  essence  of  democracy,  because 

one  of  its  necessary  beliefs  was  that  each  man  was  the  equal 

of  every  other.     Certain  manners  and  habits 

They  teach  the    emphasized  this  kernel  of  their  creed.     They 

equality  of  men.  r  J 

believed  there  should  be  no  distinctions  m  dress, 
no  difference  in  title,  no  unnecessary  elaboration  in  speech. 
The  hat  was  to  be  kept  on  the  head  before  the  most  august 
tribunal,  because  to  stand  uncovered  savored  of  the  homage 
due  to  God  alone.  Simple  language  with  "  thee  and  thou  " 
was  addressed  to  all  alike,  and  the  unadorned  coat  gave 
no  chance  for  superiority  in  apparel.  "  My  Lord  Peter 
and  My  Lord  Paul  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Bible ;  My 
Lord  Solon  or  Lord  Scipio  is  not  to  be  read  in  Greek  or 
Latin  stories." 

Among  the  followers  of  Fox  was  one  man  who  was  a  far 
greater  soul  than  the  founder  of  his  faith.  William  Penn 
__  may  justly  be  called  one  of  the  great  men  of 

William  Penn.  V.   ,     J         „.      .  .,  u8.     .   • 

our  history.  His  father  was  Admiral  Penn,  a 
man  of  prominence  and  position  in  England  who  had  won 
distinction  by  the  capture  of  Jamaica  and  stood  in  special 
favor  at  court  because  he  had  helped  to  reinstate  the 
Stuarts.  The  son,  while  a  student  at  Oxford,  was  much  af- 
fected by  the  teachings  of  the  Quakers.  Refusing  to  attend 
the  religious  services  of  the  university,  he  was  expelled  and 
sent  home  in  disgrace.     He  now  spent  some  time  on  the 


110 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Continent,  especially  in  Paris,  and  the  gayeties  of  life  seem 
for  a  time  to  have  banished  all  serious  inclination  to  re- 
ligion from  his  mind.  He 
returned  to  England  in  1664, 
and  thence  went  to  Ireland, 
where  he  came  under  the  in- 
fluence again  of  the  Quaker 
preacher  who  had  won  such 
a  hold  upon  him  in  his  stu- 
dent days.  He  was  then 
fully  converted  to  the  new 
faith.  This  was  a  great 
event  for  Quakerism,  because 
converts  among  the  wealthy 
and  influential  had  been 
very  few,  and  because  Penn 
was  in  himself  a  man  of  rare 
vigor,  sweetness,  and  ability. 
In  spite  of  his  social  posi- 
tion and  the  sweetness  of  his 
character,  he  was  many  times  in  prison ;  and  these  rough 
experiences  had  doubtless  their  effect  in  broadening  his 
sympathies  with  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.*  Rude 
schools  as  they  were,  the  Old  Bailey  and  the  Tower  may 
have  given  him  broader  views  of  life  and  led  him  to  see  with 
greater  clearness  the  needs  of  men  and  the  crime  and 
follies  of  the  state. 

In  1670  his  father  died,  leaving  him  wealthy. 
He  acquires         He  inhered  claims  on  the  Government  to  a 

Pennsylvania. 

large  amount.  The  frivolous  Charles  II  had 
no  zeal  for  paying  debts  in  cash,  and  so  in  1681  Penn  re- 
ceived in  satisfaction  of  his  claim  a  vast  estate  stretching 

*  "  In  such  rough  schools  of  statesmanship  as  the  Old  Bailey,  New- 
gate, and  the  Tower  he  imbibed  broad  and  liberal  views  of  what  was 
necessary  for  the  welfare  of  mankind."  (Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  vol.  iii,  p.  475.) 


The  middle  colonies— 1609-1 700.  m 

westward  from  the  Delaware  River  through  five  degrees  of 
longitude.*  The  king  gave  the  name  Pennsylvania  to  the 
province  in  honor  of  Penn's  father. 

Here  Penn  intended  to  establish  a  free  commonwealth. 
"  And  because,"  he  said,  "  I  have  been  somewhat  exercised 
at  times  about  the  nature  and  end  of  govern- 
is  purpose,  ment  among  men,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect 
that  I  should  endeavor  to  establish  a  just  and  righteous  one 
in  this  province.  .  .  .  For  the  nations  want  a  precedent." 
And  again,  he  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  For  the  matter  of  lib- 
erty and  privilege,  I  propose  that  which  is  extraordinary, 
and  to  leave  myself  and  successors  no  power  of  doing  mis- 
chief— that  the  will  of  one  man  may  not  hinder  the  good 
of  an  whole  country."  The  same  broad  generosity  is  shown 
in  the  letter  which  he  now  issued  to  the  people  who  were 
already  within  the  limits  of  his  grant.  "  You  shall  be  gov- 
erned," he  promised,  "  by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and 
live  a  free  and,  if  you  will,  a  sober  and  industrious  people." 

Emigrants  made  their  way  at  once  to  Pennsylvania,  and 

in  1682  Penn  himself  set  out  for  his  new  province.     A  city 

was  marked  out  on  the  Schuylkill  and  named 

fhfcoion^  °f  PhiladelPnia> the  city  of  brotherly  love.  Penn 
had  already  drawn  up  a  "  Frame  of  Govern- 
ment "  for  his  colony — a  liberal  instrument  full  of  the  true 
spirit  of  democracy  and  worthy  of  its  author.  This  was 
afterward  altered  in  parts,  but  its  main  princi- 
p.eif'!  .  pies  remained.      He  believed  in  free  govern- 

philosophy,  r  .  °, 

ment,  but  not  in  the  power  of  form  or  in  the 
might  of  maxim.  "  Any  government,"  he  asserted,  "  is  free 
to  the  people  under  it  (whatever  be  its  frame)  where  the 

*  The  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania,  as  of  most  of  the  colonies,  were 
later  subject  to  dispute.  The  northern  line  had  to  be  agreed  upon  with 
New  York.  Connecticut  also  claimed  the  northern  portion,  and  this 
gave  rise  to  serious  disputes  in  later  years.  See  Fiske,  The  Critical  Pe- 
riod of  American  History,  pp.  148-150 ;  McMaster,  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i,  pp.  210-216. 


The  FRAME  of  the 

GOVERNMENT 

OF  THE 

l^cfofote  of  ^mnftnwmfo 
AM  ERICA-- 

Together  with  certain 

LAWS 

Agreed  upon  in  England 

BY   THE 

GOVERNOUR 

AND 

Divers  F  R  E  E  -  M  E  N  of  the  aforefaid 
PROVINCE 

To  he  furth-r  Explained  and  Confirmed  there  by  the  firll 

Troiinciai  Count  i7  and  Q eneral  Ajfemhly  that  (hall 

be  held,   if  they  fee  meet. 


Printed  in  die  Year  MDCLXXXII.* 


*  Title-page  of  the  Frame  of  Government.  It  provided  for  a  council 
and  an  assembly,  to  be  elected  by  the  freemen,  and  one  third  of  the 
members  of  the  council  to  retire  annually.  Committees  were  also  pro- 
vided for.  It  was  soon  changed  in  part ;  but  these  provisions  are  note- 
worthy. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONlES-1 609-1 700.  113 

laws  rule  and  the  people  are  a  party  to  those  laws ;  and 
more  than  this  is  tyranny,  oligarchy,  or  confusion.  .  .  . 
Liberty  without  obedience  is  confusion,  and  obedience  with- 
out liberty  is  slavery."  Never  has  the  philosophy  of  gov- 
ernment been  more  exactly  stated. 

Pennsylvania,  like  Maryland,  and  like  other  colonies 
founded  after  1660,  was  a  proprietary  colony.  Penn  was 
the  owner  of  the  soil ;  from  him  the  settlers  obtained  the 
right  to  occupy  the  land  and  build  their  houses ;  to  him 
they  paid  their  rent.  He  appointed  the  governor  to  act  as 
his  representative  in  his  absence,  and  provided  for  a  legisla- 
tive assembly.  Penn  was  not  granted  such  full  and  absolute 
powers  as  were  bestowed  upon  Lord  Baltimore.  Doubtless 
he  did  not  wish  them.  The  inhabitants  of  his  province 
could  appeal  to  the  king  and  the  acts  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly must  be  presented  to  him  in  council  for  ratification  or 
rejection. 

In  1682  Penn  became  possessed  of  New  Castle  and  the 
territory  lying  to  the  south  of  it.  This  land  he  acquired 
from  the  Duke  of  York.  It  came  to  be  called 
the  "  Territories,"  while  Pennsylvania  was 
known  as  the  "  Province."  For  some  time  these  two  com- 
munities were  enrolled  under  one  government,  but  for 
some  reason  each  was  jealous  and  suspicious  of  the  other; 
disputes  arose,  and  peace  was  finally  secured  by  making 
the  Territories  into  the  separate  colony  of  Delaware 
(1703). 

Pennsylvania  grew  rapidly  into  a  flourishing  and  well- 
peopled  colony.     Before  the  end  of  the  century  there  were 
not  less  than  twenty  thousand  persons  within 

2bT?er0fthe  fche  limits  of  Penn's  grant,  and  Philadelphia 
was  already  a  busy  and  prosperous  town.  The 
settlers  were  by  no  means  all  Quakers  ;  there  were  Swedes 
and  Dutchmen  and  Germans  as  well.  At  a  later  day  many 
Scotch  Irish  made  their  way  thither.  The  Quaker  faith, 
however,  shaped  the  character  of  the   colony ;  toleration 


114  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  freely  accorded  to  all  religions  and  modes  of  worship, 
for  toleration  was  a  logical  result  of  the  faith  of  the  Friend. 
Moreover,  the  Quakers  believed  that  each  man  was  enlight- 
ened and  guided  from  on  high ;  they  believed  in  the  equal- 
ity of  men ;  and  under  such  influences  Pennsylvania  be- 
came in  some  ways  the  truest  example  of  a  thoroughly 
democratic  commonwealth. 

One  might  expect  that,  when  Penn  had  freely  given 
the  colony  so  much,  there  would  be  little  trouble  in  govern- 
ing it  and  no  political  unrest.    But  such  was  not 
Political  ^e  caga    rp^g  pe0p]e  ha(j  their  longings  and  am- 

aisputeSi  r      r  o     © 

bitions,  and  entered  erelong  lustily  into  political 
controversy.  These  difficulties  were  at  times  a  great  source 
of  annoyance  to  Penn.  "  For  the  love  of  God,  me,  and  the 
poor  country,"  he  wrote  at  one  time,  "  be  not  so  government- 
ish,  so  noisy  and  open  in  your  dissatisfactions."  These  dis- 
satisfactions were  bound  to  come,  and  it  was  as  well  they 
did,  perhaps,  since  men  are  versed  in  the  art  of  politics  and 
self-government  not  by  quiet  contentment,  but  by  zealous 
strivings.* 

A  part  of  Penn's  wisdom  and  brotherly  love  was  shown 
in  his  treatment  of  the  Indians.     To  his  first  commissioners 

in  this  new  province  he  wrote  :  "  Be  tender  of 
^n^th  the     offending  the  Indians.  .  .  .  Make  a  friendship 

and  league  with  them.  Be  grave  ;  they  love  not 
to  be  smiled  upon."  He  himself,  after  his  arrival  in  Amer- 
ica, purchased  land  of  the  Indians  and  entered  into  "  great 
promises  of  friendship."  At  a  later  day  he  wrote :  "  We 
leave  not  the  least  indignity  to  them  unrebukt  nor  wrong 
unsatisfied.  Justice  gains  and  awes  them."  So  Pennsyl- 
vania was  long  free  from  Indian  dangers.  Not  till  the  later 
troubles  with  France  began,  was  the  progress  of  the  colony 
seriously  threatened. 

*  Penn  was  for  a  time  (1692-94)  deprived  of  his  province  by  the 
authorities  in  England,  but  it  was  returned  to  him  again. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1609-1700. 


115 


A  book  printed  in  England  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  says  that  Philadelphia  contained  many  stately  houses 
of  brick  and  "  several  fine  squares  and  courts." 
rospen  y.  Between  the  principal  towns  the  "  watermen 
constantly  ply  their  wherries."  "  There  are  no  beggars  to 
be  seen,  nor,  indeed,  have  any  the  least  temptation  to  take 
up  that  scandalous  life." 

References. 

Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp.  207-217;  Fisher,  The  Colonial  Era, 
pp.  199-206 ;  Lodge,  Short  History,  pp.  205-226 ;  Winsor,  Narrative 
and  Critical  History,  Volume  III,  Chapter  XII;  Bancroft,  History, 
Volume  I,  pp.  528-573,  Volume  II,  pp.  62-75 ;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Pop- 
ular History,  Volume  II,  pp.  165-178,  481^98;  Stoughton,  William 
Penn,  The  Founder  of  Pennsylvania ;  Fiske,  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colo- 
nies, Volume  II,  Chapters  XII,  XVI,  XVII. 


House  in  Philadelphia  in  which  Penn  lived— 1699-1701. 


CHAPTER   V. 
History  of  the  Colonies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  by  the  decree  of  the  Pope 

and  by  an  agreement  between  Spain  and  Portugal  these 

two   countries   claimed  title    to  the   heathen 

Right  of  world.      Spain    asserted  that   she   owned  the 

discovery!  x 

whole  of  Xorth  America  and  all  of  South 
America  lying  west  of  the  line  agreed  upon.  Before  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  she  had  been 
forced  to  give  up  her  excessive  demands  and  to  yield  to 
other  countries  some  title  and  dominion.  By  this  time 
there  had  developed  a  doctrine  known  as  the  right  of  dis- 
covery. That  doctrine  included  the  following  proposi- 
tions : 

1.  The  Christian  nation  that  discovers  a  heathen  land 
owns  it  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  Christian  nations.  2. 
This  nation  must  complete  its  title  within  a  reasonable 
time  by  occupying  and  using  this  land.  3.  The  native  in- 
habitants are  the  occupants  of  the  land  only.* 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  English 
dominion  stretched  from  east  of  the  Kennebec  to  the  Sa- 
vannah ;  its  western  border  was  the  Allegheny 
Claims  of  range.     As  yet  no   adventurous  pioneer  had 

dared  to  make  a  settlement  in  the  great  valley 
beyond  the  mountains.  On  the  northeast  the  claims  of 
England  extended  into  the  territory  which  France  asserted 

*  See  Hinsdale,  How  to  Study  and  Teach  History,  pp.  204,  205.    The 
propositions  here  given  are  in  the  words  of  Professor  Hinsdale. 
116 


THE  COLONIES  IN   THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     117 

was  hers,  and  on  the  south  Spain  claimed  title  to  all  the 
territory  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Savannah,  while  the 
English  claimed  southward  to  the  St.  John's.  We  shall  see 
how  the  English  established  a  colony  in  the  region  south 
of  the  Savannah  (1733),  and  how  through  the  efforts  of 
Oglethorpe  the  land  was  held  for  England.  By  the  middle 
of  the  century  Spain's  possessions  in  the  eastern  part  of 
North  America  were  confined  to  Florida  alone. 

With  France,  however,  England  had  still  to  wage  a 
mighty  struggle.  Until  near  the  beginning  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  there  had  been  no  good  reason 
Enaijandnd  for  conflict  between  the  two  nations,  for  the 
continent  was  large  enough  for  the  settlements 
of  both  countries,  and  the  colonists  of  the  one  did  not  come 
into  contact  with  those  of  the  other.  But,  as  the  years 
went  by,  the  rivalry  grew  more  and  more  intensely  bitter, 
and  all  questions  of  colonial  policy  and  growth  were  more 
or  less  influenced  by  this  international  jealousy  and  hatred. 
War  succeeded  war,  and  in  the  intervals  of  peace  each  na- 
tion narrowly  watched  the  other.  These  wars  were  partly 
caused  by  religious  differences  and  by  the  political  problems 
of  Europe ;  but  they  were  caused  also  by  the  fact  that  both 
the  nations  were  seeking  to  secure  great  possessions  in 
America.  France  and  England  were  natural  rivals  because 
of  their  colonial  ambitions. 

From  whatever  point  of  view  one  studies  the  colonial 

history  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  must  needs  have  these 

intercolonial  wars  and  this  intercolonial  rivalry 

intercolonial       ag  a  background.     We   must  remember  that 

wars.  ° 

New  England  grew  and  prospered  and  reached 
out  for  more  territory  to  be  filled  with  thriving  towns,  while 
the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  were  lurking  on  her  bor- 
ders and  watching  her  progress  with  malice  in  their  hearts. 
We  must  remember  that  in  some  of  the  colonies  disputes 
arose  between  the  governor  and  the  popular  assembly  over 
the  question  of  supply  or  preparation  for  war,  and  that 


118  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

each  dispute  gave  to  the  colonists  practice  in  declaring 
their  rights  and  privileges.  We  must  remember,  too,  that 
the  colonies  felt  their  dependence  on  England,  because  of 
the  presence  of  an  enemy  on  their  frontier. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  century  the  political  history 
of  each  colony  is  very  similar  to  that  of  every  other.  It  is 
p  rti  ai  a  s^ory  °^  Pettv  quarrels  between  the  assembly 

character  of  and  the  governor,  of  incessant  disputes  over 
these  years.  some  matter  apparently  trivial,  but  yet  involv- 
ing, as  the  colonists  thought,  some  question  of  principle  or 
some  real  substantial  right.  The  hapless  governor  was  often 
between  two  fires.  On  the  one  side  were  the  stubborn  colo- 
nists absolutely  refusing  concession  and  demanding  new 
privileges ;  on  the  other  side  he  had  clear  instructions  from 
the  proprietors  or  royal  authority  directing  him  not  to 
grant  what  the  colonists  wished.  But  these  quarrels  and 
disputes  were  evidences  of  a  persistent  spirit  of  self-govern- 
ment. The  people  were  thus  trained  in  political  methods 
and  taught  to  understand  and  appreciate  constitutional  and 
legal  principles.  For  these  contests  did  not  consist  of  vio- 
lent uprisings ;  they  were  mere  wordy  disputes  carried  on 
with  the  formalities  of  legal  language  and  with  the  studied 
decorum  of  debate. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  development  of  the 
American  colonists  through  this  period  followed  the  lines 
already  marked  out  by  the  progress  of  the 
mother  country.  The  assembly  or  lower  house 
of  the  colonial  legislature  strove  to  obtain  full  control  over 
the  purse.  When  this  hold  was  secured,  or  nearly  so,  it 
demanded  redress  of  grievances  and  new  privileges  on  pain 
of  a  refusal  of  supply.  It  said  to  the  governor,  "  Cease  this 
or  that  practice,  or  else  we  will  cease  to  pay  your  salary." 
Thus  the  right  of  self-taxation  became  the  basis  of  many 
other  rights,  and  was  looked  upon  by  the  colonists  as  the 
most  fundamental  of  them  all.  Edmund  Burke,  the  great 
English  orator  and  statesman,  in  his  Speech  on  Concilia- 


THE  COLONIES  IN  THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     119 

tion  with  America,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  speeches 
ever  delivered,  thus  speaks  of  this  love  of  the  colonists  for 
the  principle  of  self-taxation,  a  principle  which  the  experi- 
ences of  the  whole  eighteenth  century  strongly  confirmed  : 
"  The  people  of  the  colonies  are  descendants  of  English- 
men. .  .  .  The  colonies  draw  from  you,  as  with  their  life 
blood,  these  ideas  and  principles.  Their  love  of  liberty,  as 
with  you,  fixed  and  attached  on  this  specific  point  of  tax- 
ing. Liberty  might  be  safe  or  might  be  endangered  in 
twenty  other  particulars  without  their  being  much  pleased 
or  alarmed.  Here  they  felt  its  pulse ;  and  as  they  found 
that  beat,  they  thought  themselves  sick  or  sound." 

So  this  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  passed  away, 
uneventfully  on  the  whole.     On  the  north  and  west  the  bor- 
ders were  time  and  again  beset  by  wandering 
A  period  of         parties  of  French  and  Indians.     The  outbreak 

progress.  * 

of  actual  war  caused  some  excitement,  and 
brought  almost  surely  a  dispute  with  some  ambitious  gov- 
ernor over  increased  supply  or  new  authority.  But  the 
signs  of  the  times  are  a  steady  development  in  the  arts  and 
practices  of  self-government,  a  slow  but  sure  advancement 
in  industrial  prosperity,  a  quiet  and  sober  progress  toward  a 
self-sufficient  and  independent  life. 

We  can  not  enter  at  length  into  the  history  of  New 
England  during  these  years.     We  must  content  ourselves 

with  noticing  one  or  two  instances  of  political 
MstoEngland      controversy   that   illustrate   the   spirit  of  the 

people.  One  of  the  governors  of  Massachusetts 
on  returning  to  England  complained  bitterly  of  the  temper 
of   "  Boston,  a  town   of   eighteen   thousand   inhabitants." 

He   declared  that  it  was  full  of  a  "leveling 

spirit,"  and  that  the  citizens  were  bent  upon 
making  "  continual  encroachments  on  the  few  prerogatives 
left  to  the  Crown."  *  These  angry  words  were  doubtless  not 
far  from  true.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  had  no  thought 
of  treason  or  insurrection ;  but  they  were  determined  to 
9 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

govern  themselves  just  as  far  as  they  possibly  could,  and  to 
cling  persistently  to  their  own  purse  strings  and  open  their 
purse  at  their  own  discretion.  At  times  they  managed  to 
get  on  very  well  with  the  royal  governor ;  but  often  they 
were  engaged  in  some  dispute  with  him.  A  good  illustra- 
tion of  these  differences  is  a  controversy  between  the  Assem- 
bly and  the  governor  over  the  question  of  permanent  salary. 
Successive  governors  demanded  that  the  legislature  should 
grant  a  permanent  sum.  The  house  preferred  to  make  its 
grant  annually.  Especially  during  the  administration  of 
Burnett  (1728-'29)  the  controversy  was  hotly  waged.  The 
governor  threatened  and  scolded  the  legislators,  dissolved 
the  General  Court,  and  declared  they  should  not  longer  sit 
at  Boston,  but  at  Cambridge  or  Salem,  "  where  prejudices 
had  not  taken  root,"  but  all  to  no  avail.  His  successor 
brought  with  him  rigid  instructions  to  obtain  a  permanent 
salary,  but  he  did  not  succeed.  He  finally  gave  way  and 
accepted,  with  due  thankfulness  no  doubt,  the  pay  the 
house  was  willing  to  give  each  year.  Thus  the  people  won 
by  obstinate  striving  the  power  of  keeping  the  governor  in 
order  by  controlling  his  pay. 

The  history  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  differed 
in  one  way  essentially  from  that  of  Massachusetts,  because 
in  these  colonies  there  was  no  royal  governor 
EhodeCSdand  to  cause  annoyance.     Several  times  they  were 
threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  free  charters ; 
but  they  contrived  by  argument  and  clever  management  to 
save  these  precious  documents.     Although  not  engaged  in 
quarrels  with  royal  governors,  the  people  were  interested  in 
political  questions  and  governed  themselves  quietly  and  well. 
Turning  to  New  York,  we  find  that  its  political  history 
was  in  many  ways  not  essentially  different  from  that  of 
Massachusetts.     Probably  New  York  was  un- 
usually unfortunate  in  the  royal  governors  that 
were  sent  to  rule  over  her.     Some  of  them  were  not  very 
bad,  but  others  either  were  greedy  and  bent  upon  filling 


THE   COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     121 

their  purses  or  were  very  quarrelsome  and  domineering. 
The  Assembly  struggled  doggedly  against  successive  gov- 
ernors, winning  little  by  little  a  stronger  hold  upon  the 
Government.  One  who  knew  the  people  well  told  the  au- 
thorities in  England  (1729)  that  "  most  of  the  previous  and 
open  steps  which  a  dependent  state  can  take  to  render  them- 
selves independent  at  their  pleasure  are  taken  by  the  As- 
sembly of  New  York." 

Prominent  among  the  royal  governors  of  New  York  was 
one  Cosby  (1732-36),  a  money  getter,  a  boisterous,  irrita- 
ble fellow,  tactless  and  devoid  of  both  decorum 
The  right  of  an(j  virtue.  A  man  named  Zenger  published 
ee  speec  .  .^  ^  paper  some  criticisms  of  the  governor,  de- 
claring that  the  people  of  New  York  "  think  that  slavery  is 
likely  to  be  entailed  on  them  and  their  posterity  if  some 
things  be  not  amended."  Thereupon  the  paper  was  ordered 
burned  and  Zenger  was  cast  into  prison  and  brought  to  trial 
for  criminal  libel.  The  lawyer  who  defended  him  admitted 
that  the  articles  in  question  had  been  published,  but  asserted 
that  they  were  true  and  not  false  or  scandalous.  "  A  free 
people,"  said  the  bold  lawyer,  Andrew  Hamilton,  "  are  not 
obliged  by  any  law  to  support  a  governor  who  goes  about  to 
destroy  a  province."  He  pointed  to  the  abuses  of  the  ex- 
ecutive power  and  warned  the  jury  that  it  was  "  not  the 
cause  of  a  poor  printer  alone,  nor  of  New  York  alone.  No  ! 
it  may  in  its  consequences  affect  every  freeman  that  lives 
under  a  British  government  on  the  main  of  America."  He 
called  upon  them  to  protect  the  liberty  "  to  which  Nature 
and  the  laws  of  our  country  have  given  us  a  right,  the  lib- 
erty both  of  exposing  and  opposing  arbitrary  power,  in 
these  parts  of  the  world  at  least,  by  speaking  and  writing 
the  truth."  Zenger  was  acquitted,  and  Hamilton,  who  was 
a  Pennsylvanian,  was  given  the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a 
gold  snuff  box.  These  were  pretty  evident  straws  to  show 
which  way  the  wind  was  blowing  in  New  York. 

We  might  expect  that  in  Pennsylvania,  founded  by  a 


122  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

generous  proprietor  and  inhabited  by  a  peace-loving  people, 
there  would  be  no  contentions  or  disputes.  But  it  had  its 
full  share.  In  1718  Penn  died  and  the  province 
became  the  property  of  his  heirs.  The  colony 
prospered  exceedingly  and  grew  in  wealth  and  population, 
and  as  it  grew  the  people  became  somewhat  masterful  and 
assertive,  quite  as  insistent  upon  their  full  rights  as  were  the 
people  of  any  colony.  Various  disputes  between  governor 
and  Assembly  arose,  and  in  them  all  the  Assembly  was  ob- 
stinate and  tenacious  of  its  rights.  When  the  troubles  with 
France  grew  serious  in  the  middle  of  the  century  and  the 
frontier  settlements  were  attacked  by  the  Indians,  the  Gov- 
ernment, refusing  to  do  as  the  Assembly  wished,  had  diffi- 
culty in  getting  money  to  repel  the  invaders.  One  can  not 
entirely  sympathize  with  the  people  in  their  inflexible  re- 
fusal to  grant  supplies  at  a  time  when  the  borders  of  the 
colony  were  laid  waste  by  Indian  forays.  But  the  refusal 
shows  well  that  the  legislators  knew  their  rights  and  were 
determined  to  act  on  them.  When  the  governor  pleaded 
for  money  they  would  not  yield,  quietly  remarking  that 
"  they  had  rather  the  French  should  conquer  them  than 
give  up  their  privileges."  "  Truly,"  remarked  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  "  I  think  they  have  given  their 
senses  a  long  holiday." 

Among  the  most  notable  governors  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  Alexander  Spotswood,  who  for  twelve  years  was 
at  the  head  of  the  government  in  Virginia 
(1710-'22).  Like  many  another  ruler,  he 
thought  that  the  duty  of  the  people  lay  in  obedience  alone, 
and  he  was  wont  to  lecture  the  burgesses  as  if  they  were  so 
many  schoolboys,  declaring  that  they  had  not  the  "ordi- 
nary qualifications  for  legislators."  *     But  withal  he  was  an 

*  Chalmers,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Revolt  of  the  American  Colo- 
nies, says :  "  Had  Spotswood  even  invaded  the  privileges,  while  he  only 
mortified  the  pride  of  the  Virginians,  they  ought  to  have  erected  a 
statue  to  the  memory  of  the  ruler  who  gave  them  the  manufacture  of 


THE   COLONIES  IN  THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY.     123 

able  and  energetic  man,  sincerely  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  the  colony  and  full  of  zeal  for  its  improvement.     On  the 

whole,  therefore,  his  administration  was  peace- 
Governor  fui   an(j  proSperous#     « This  government,"  he 

said,  "  is  in  perfect  peace  and  tranquillity,  un- 
der a  due  obedience  to  the  royal  authority  and  a  gentle- 
manly conformity  to  the  Church  of  England."  He  brought 
about  peace  with  the  Indians,  who  were  apt  to  be  trouble- 
some on  the  border.*  Under  his  leadership  an  expedition 
was  made  over  the  Blue  Eidge  and  into  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  Such  a  journey  was  only  a  pleasant  excursion  in 
comparison  with  the  long  exploring  trips  of  the  French  far 
into  the  unknown  west ;  but  it  made  much  noise  in  the  col- 
ony, for  governors  were  not  accustomed  to  interest  them- 
selves in  exploration  or  in  extending  the  bounds  of  their 
provinces. 

In  the  second  quarter  of  the  century  Virginia  began  to 
reach  out  toward  the  mountains  and  to  long  for  the  smiling 

valleys  beyond.  Soon  a  tide  of  immigration 
Virginia  ge^.  |n  an(j  swep^  [ni0  the  fertile  fields  along 

the  Shenandoah.  About  the  middle  of  the 
century,  then,  we  see  in  Virginia  two  strongly  contrasted 
societies.  On  the  tide-water  rivers  a  race  of  planters  "  dress- 
ing richly,  living  on  large  estates,  riding  in  coaches,  and 
attending  the  Church  of  England " ;  past  the  mountains 
hardy  settlers,  "clearing  the  land,  building  houses  and 
churches,  and  making  a  new  Virginia  in  the  wilderness; 
and  still  farther  toward  the  Alleghanies,  hardy  frontiers- 
men who  have  set  their  feet  on  the  very  outposts  of  civil- 
ization." There  is  little  resemblance  in  life  and  habits. 
The  planter  is  waited  upon  by  slaves;  the  frontiersman 
must  defend  himself  and   earn   his  own   hard  livelihood. 

iron,  and  showed  them  by  his  active  example  that  it  is  diligence  and 
attention  which  can  alone  make  a  people  great." 

*  A  very  interesting  account  of  Governor  Spotswood  is  given  in 
Cooke's  Virginia,  p.  311. 


124  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Yet  both  are  Virginians,  and  both  are  devoted  to  liberty. 
The  planter,  accustomed  to  rule  others  as  well  as  himself, 
would  not  brook  restraint.  The  pioneer  breathed  in  free- 
dom with  every  draught  of  mountain  air.* 

The  Carolinas  entered  the  eighteenth  century  somewhat 
restless  under  the  senseless  proprietary  rule,  but,  on  the 

whole,  they  were  prosperous  and  progressive. 

South  Carolina  had  grown  quickly  into  a  staid 
community.  Charlestown  was  already  a  thriving  little 
place,  trie  home  of  the  planters,  who  left  their  plantations 
in  the  interior  to  be  cultivated  by  slaves,  while  they  enjoyed 
the  pleasures  of  town  life.  They  were  men  of  force  and 
ability,  many  of  them  educated  gentlemen,  and  they  felt 
quite  competent  to  manage  their  own  affairs  without  great 
deference  to  the  proprietors,  who  seemed  to  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  real  needs  of  the  colony,  and  to  care  little  for 
the  interests  and  wishes  of  the  colonists.  Such  a  condition 
of  affairs  could  bring  but  one  result.  The  people  formed 
"an  association  to  stand  by  their  rights  and  privileges," 
and  the  popular  assembly  took  the  reins  into  its  own  hands 

and  refused  to  be  ruled  longer  by  a  set  of  non- 
B«S»loSoia       resident  proprietors,  who  were  greedy  only  for 

their  own  gain.  This  practical  revolution  (1719) 
was  not  made  a  legal  fact  until  ten  years  after  the  first  re- 
volt. Then  the  proprietors  gave  up  their  charter,  and 
South  Carolina  became  a  royal  colony. 

North  Carolina  did  not  throw  off  the  proprietary  yoke 
when  her  southern  neighbor  rebelled,  but  she  too  became  a 

royal  colony  in  1729.  Her  population  grew 
Carolina.  rapidly,  but  the  people  were  not  so  progressive 

as  those  of  either  Virginia  or  South  Carolina. 
Without  convenient  harbors,  the  people  had  little  or  no 
communication  with  the  outside  world,  even  the  tobacco 
crop  being  carried  to  Virginia  for  transportation  abroad. 

*  Read  Cooke's  Virginia,  p.  322  et  seq. 


THE   COLONIES  IN  THE   EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     125 

For  this  and  other  reasons  life  was  simple  and  primitive. 
Many  of  the  colonists  were  ignorant,  and  showed  no  desire 
for  learning ;  printing  was  not  introduced  until  about  the 
middle  of  the  century,  and  schools  were  almost  unknown. 
Among  such  a  people  we  ought  not  to  expect  a  great  knowl- 
edge of  the  art  of  politics ;  yet  here,  too,  the  colonists 
showed  some  capacity  for  managing  their  own  affairs,  and 
were  growing  steadily  into  an  appreciation  of  the  problems 
and  principles  of  self-government. 


GEORGIA— 1732-1765. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as  we  have 
seen,  England  had  planted  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  coast 

from  the  Kennebec  Eiver  at  the  north  to  the 
EnTandd  Savannah  at  the  south.     Spain,  on  the  other 

hand,  had  made  no  progress  toward  the  north 
since  the  founding  of  St.  Augustine.  This  settlement 
served  as  an  outpost  to  guard  her  West  Indian  colonies, 
but  it  served  no  other  purpose.  Though  Spain  did  nothing 
herself,  she  watched  England's  advance  with  jealous  eye, 
and  continued  to  claim  the  land  as  her  own  far  north  of 
her  actual  possessions.  At  the  beginning  she  might  have 
broken  up  the  colony  at  Jamestown  and  prevented  the 
Englishmen  from  gaining  a  foothold  on  the  coast ;  but  it 
was  too  late  now,  and  all  she  could  do  was  to  hold  what  she 
had  and  protest  against  the  aggressions  of  England  along 
the  coast  and  of  France  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In  1670 
England  and  Spain  entered  into  an  agreement  known  as 
the  American  treaty,  but  this  did  not  determine  the  bound- 
ary between  Florida  and  Carolina.  Sixty  years  after  the 
founding  of  South  Carolina  there  was  no  settlement  south 
of  the  Savannah.* 

*  England  had  established  weak  military  outposts  there,  but  there 
was  no  settlement. 


12G  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

A  colony  was  finally  planted  in  this  region  through  the 
efforts  of  James  Oglethorpe,  a  member  of  the  English  Par- 
liament,  "a   gentleman  of  unblemished  char- 
orpe"         acter,  brave,  generous,  and  humane."     He  saw 
the  desirability  of  founding  a  settlement  in  the  country 
south  of  the  Carolinas.     At  this  time  in  England  persons 

were  imprisoned  for  debt 
and  hanged  for  a  petty 
theft.  Each  year,  we  are 
told,  at  least  four  thousand 
unhappy  men  were  shut 
up  in  prison  because  of 
the  misfortune  of  poverty. 
The  jails  were  wretched, 
woe-begone  places,  scenes 
of  misery  and  often  of 
horror.  Oglethorpe  pro- 
posed to  carry  away  these 
luckless  captives  to  Ameri- 
ca, and  there  to  found  a 
colony  where  they  might 
have  a  chance  to  get 
ahead  in  the  world.  Oglethorpe  and  several  other  persons 
were  constituted  "trustees  for  the  establishing  the  colony 
of  Georgia  in  America."  The  king  granted 
His  purposes.  them  a  charter  and  vested  them  with  com- 
plete power. 

Oglethorpe  was  chosen  to  lead  the  expedition,  and  set 

sail  for  America  with  a  number  of  colonists  in  the  latter 

part  of  1732.     In  February  of  the  next  year  he 

The  colony  founded   Savannah.      Other  settlers   soon  fol- 

founded. 

lowed,  among  them  a  number  of  German  Prot- 
estants, who  had  been  persecuted  at  home  for  their  religion. 
These  people  were  thrifty  and  industrious,  and  did  much 
for  the  colony.  But  the  shiftless  debtors  that  were  brought 
over  do  not  seem  to  have  learned  how  to  work.     A  few  years 


THE   COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.     127 

later  still  other  emigrants  arrived,  among  them  Moravians 
and  Lutherans  from  Germany. 

Oglethorpe  was  well  fitted  for  the  task  of  protecting  his 
frontier  colony  against  the  attacks  of  Spain.     When  war 
broke  out  between  England  and  Spain  in  1739 
War  with  Georgia  was   in   an  exposed   position.     Ogle- 

thorpe conducted  an  expedition  against  the 
Spanish  colony,  but  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  siege  which 
he  had  begun.  The  enemy  in  turn  made  a  fierce  attack 
upon  the  town  of  Frederica.  It  was  repelled  through  the 
courage  and  clever  strategy  of  Oglethorpe.  Thereafter  the 
colony  was  safe  from  Spanish  attack.  A  new  domain  had 
been  securely  added  to  the  English  Crown. 

Georgia  developed  slowly.  The  rule  of  Oglethorpe  was 
just,  but  as  the  time  went  on  the  regulations  of  the  trustees 
became  very  obnoxious  to  the  settlers.  In  1752 
SthTcobn  ^ne  trustees  gave  UP  their  charter  to  the  Crown, 
and  Georgia  became  a  royal  colony.  A  legisla- 
ture was  established,  and  in  administration  and  political 
form  Georgia  became  similar  to  the  other  colonies.  From 
this  time  on  the  colony  grew  more  rapidly,  and  acquired 
stability  and  strength  ;  but  when  the  troubles  with  England 
began,  and  America  was  drawn  into  war  against  the  mother 
country,  Georgia  was  still  a  backward  province ;  its  people 
had  had  little  practice  in  self-government,  and,  as  we  might 
expect,  played  no  very  conspicuous  part  in  the  struggle  for 
political  and  civil  liberty. 

Everywhere  throughout  America  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury there  developed  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  capacity  for 
Material  self-government.      But  quite  as  important  in 

prosperity  its  influence  on  our  later  history  is  the  mate- 

and  democracy.  r jaj  development  of  these  years.  The  colonies 
waxed  powerful  and  rich,  losing  all  the  appearance  of  strug- 
gling frontier  settlements.  And  with  this  growth  there 
came  a  strong  sense  of  popular  rights,  the  feeling  of  man- 


128 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ly  independence,   which  was  the  firm  foundation  of  the 
coming  democracy. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  Chapter  XIV;  Fisher, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Part  II.  Longer  accounts :  Bryant  and  Gay,  Pop- 
ular History,  Volume  III,  pp.  151-170,  222-254;  Bancroft,  History, 
Volume  II,  pp.  3-85,  238-280 ;  Lodge,  Short  History,  passim. 

For  Georgia.— Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  The  Colonies,  pp. 
258-263;  Fisher,  The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  303-313.  An  interesting  ac- 
count of  Oglethorpe  is  to  be  found  in  Bruce,  James  Edward  Ogle- 
thorpe (notice  especially  Chapters  III,  IV,  and  VII).  Bancroft,  His- 
tory, Volume  II,  pp.  280-299;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History, 
Volume  III,  pp.  140-169. 


View  of  Christ  Church,  Boston, 

On  the  spire  of  which  Paul  Revere  hung  lanterns  to  announce 

the  arrival  of  the  British  troops. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
France  and  England— 1608-1763. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  William  III  to  the  throne  of 
England  war  was  begun  with  France.  This  was  in  1689,  and 
for  the  next  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
Second  hundred  ^e  ^w0  countries  were  in  continual  enmity, 
often  in  open  war.  This  long  struggle  has 
been  named  not  inaptly  the  "  second  hundred  years'  war."  * 
The  nations  were  natural  rivals.  They  differed  in  religion 
and  they  differed  in  their  ambitions  in  European  politics. 
Most  important  of  all,  each  had  hopes  of  wide  dominion  in 
America,  and  their  claims  conflicted.  From  our  point  of 
view  these  contests  mean  but  this  :  they  were  to  decide 
which  nation  was  the  more  vigorous,  virile,  and  sound,  which 
nation  was  so  made  up  in  its  moral  and  physical  fiber  and 
in  its  political  talent,  that  it  would  succeed  in  securing 
America  to  itself.  The  prize  was,  above  all,  that  great  cen- 
tral valley  of  our  country — a  noble  prize  indeed,  as  fertile 
a  space  for  its  size  as  the  globe  shows,  capable  of  sustain- 
ing two  hundred  million  inhabitants,  traversed  by  mighty 
rivers,  free  from  impassable  mountain  chains,  a  place  which 
Nature  seems  to  have  fashioned  as  the  home  of  a  single  peo- 
ple. And  so  in  the  history  of  the  world  these  wars  mean 
much;  they  were  not  petty  squabbles  between  kings  and 
princes,  but  the  struggles  of  nations  for  empire.    Before  the 

*  Seeley,  Expansion  of  England,  Lecture  II.  Seeley's  positions  are 
somewhat  extreme,  but  the  book  is  profoundly  interesting  and  sug- 
gestive. 

129 


130  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

hundred  years  were  gone  a  great  portion  of  the  prize  had 
fallen  to  England  and  a  part  again  had  been  wrested  from 
her  by  her  rebellious  colonies ;  and  yet  from  the  accession 
of  William  III  to  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  the  enmity  of 
the  two  great  nations  may  be  said  to  have  sprung  from  their 
colonial  ambitions. 

Let  us  trace  out,  not  in  detail  but  roughly,  the  early  ex- 
pansion of  French  power  in  America.     We  have  seen  that 
early  in  the  sixteenth  century  explorers  from 

France  ready  France  sailed  alonsr  the  coast  and  that  efforts 
for  colonization,  f;  ,_ 

were  made  to  settle  on  the  banks  01  the  St. 
Lawrence.  But  the  efforts  of  these  years  only  prepared  the 
way  for  the  successes  of  the  next  century.  France  had  been 
torn  by  civil  war,  distracted  by  religious  hatred,  but  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  found  her  at  peace.  Henry 
IV,  a  rugged  soldier,  had  won  the  throne  and  issued  the  fa- 
mous Edict  of  Nantes,  proclaiming  liberty  of  worship  to 
Huguenots.  France  sank  into  repose,  while  art,  industry, 
and  commerce  sprang  into  renewed  life.  Adventurous  men, 
losing  their  trade  of  war,  were  ready  to  seek  new  employ- 
ment for  their  restless  energies. 

One  such  was  Samuel  de  Champlain,  a  bold,  resolute  man 
of  dauntless  courage.  Wearying  of  France  in  "  piping  times 
of  peace,"  he  sought  new  adventures  beyond  the 
amp  am.  ocean.  He  explored  the  coast  of  New  England, 
and  finally  (1608)  founded  Quebec.  Thus  the  French  ac- 
quired a  permanent  abiding  place  at  the  north  in  a  posi- 
tion of  great  military  strength,  on  the  river  that  afforded  a 
highway  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  to  the  great  valley  beyond. 
Champlain  continued  his  discoveries  to  the  south  and  west. 
He  discovered  the  lake  which  bears  his  name  in  1G09,  and 
later  made  his  way  westward  as  far  as  Lake  Huron.  Until 
his  death,  in  1635,  he  labored  ceaselessly  in  exploration  and 
was  the  moving  spirit  in  colonial  enterprise. 

But  Champlain  made  one  grievous  blunder,  that  in  time 
brought  woe  to  French  colonists.      In  1609,  in  company 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763. 


131 


with  a  war  party  of  Algonquin  Indians,  he  made  his  way 

southward  from  Quebec,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  that 

,.x.        now  bears  his  name   attacked  and  routed  a 

His  expedition 

against  the         band  of  Iroquois.     A  similar  expedition  a  few 

iroqnois.  years  later  was  not  so  successful,  and  the  only 

result  of  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Algonquins  against 
their  ancient  foe  was  to  make  the  warriors  of  the  Five  Na- 
tions the  inveterate  enemies  of  the  French. 


Ml 


The  five 
nations. 


Defeat  of  the  Iroquois.    From  Champlain's  Voyages,  1613. 

The  Iroquois  were  a  powerful  and  capable  race.  All  the 
tribes  of  the  North  and  East  stood  in  dread  of  them.  As 
far  west  as  the  Mississippi,  as  far  east  as  Maine, 
as  far  south  as  the  Carolinas,  they  were  known 
and  feared.  They  are  said  to  have  called  Lake 
Champlain  the  gateway  of  the  country.  Such  it  may  be 
said  to  be  to-day.  It  forms  with  the  Hudson  a  line  of  com- 
munication with  the  Atlantic ;  it  is  the  road  to  Canada  from 
the  south.  Hence  in  all  wars  between  the  nation  that  pos- 
sesses Canada  and  that  which  holds  the  Atlantic  coast  this 
valley  must  be  a  place  of  great  strategic  importance.  The 
Iroquois  seem  to  have  felt  the  strength  of  their  position. 


132 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


These  people  were  now  made  by  Champlain's  action  the 
enduring  enemies  of  the  French.  "  For  over  a  century  the 
Iroquois  found  no  pastime  equal  to  rendering 
life  in  Canada  miserable."  The  Dutch  of  Kew 
York,  more  fortunate,  made  friends  with  these 
tribes,  and  when  the  Dutch  were  supplanted  by  the  English 
they  too  for  some  years  held  the  Iroquois  as  allies.     Thus 


Results  of 
Iroquois  enmity 


t 

1 

-a 

| 

t 

) 

•* 

1 

vi 

FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  133 

the  settlements  of  the  middle  Atlantic  coast  were  in  their 
early  years  protected  from  French  attack  by  this  living  bar- 
rier, the  Iroquois — a  barrier  impassable  by  French  war  par- 
ties. Moreover,  partly  because  of  the  Iroquois,  the  French 
made  their  explorations  into  the  west  and  northwest  rather 
than  to  the  south  and  southwest.  Lake  Superior  was  known 
before  Lake  Erie,  and  the  Mississippi  had  been  traversed 
before  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  were  known.  In  conse- 
quence, for  a  long  time  the  French  and  English  settle- 
ments diverged,  the  French  occupying  positions  on  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the  rivers  of  the  far  West  long  before  they 
dared  to  come  near  the  English  by  occupying  places  imme- 
diately beyond  the  mountains.  The  great  struggle  between 
France  and  England  did  not  come  till,  under  different  con- 
ditions, the  authorities  of  Canada  tried  to  take  and  hold 
strategic  points  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

The  seventeenth  century  is  a  picturesque  period  in  the 
history  of  Canada.     Bold  adventurers  and  soldiers,  brave 
and  patient  priests,  hardy  fur  traders  and  rest- 
Early  Trench      jegg  rovers  a\\  &{&  their  part  in  exploring  the 

explorersi  x 

great  West,  carrying  the  lilies  of  France,  the 
cross  of  the  church,  or  the  brandy  and  gewgaws  of  the  mer- 
chant into  the  remote  solitudes  of  the  interior.  As  early  as 
1634  Jean  Nicollet  was  in  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  A  few 
years  later  Jesuit  priests  preached  their  faith  before  two 
thousand  naked  savages  at  the  falls  of  Ste.  Marie.  Soon 
after  this  Allouez  began  a  mission  in  this  same  region,  and 
for  thirty  years  he  passed  from  tribe  to  tribe  in  that  far-off 
wilderness,  preaching  and  exhorting  and  striving  to  implant 
his  faith.  Marquette  gathered  the  Indians  about  him  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  passed  even  to  the  farther  end  of 
Lake  Superior,  seeking  to  win  souls  for  the  Church.  St. 
Lusson  (1671),  at  the  Sault,  with  solemn  ceremony  before  a 
motley  concourse  of  braves,  proclaimed  the  sovereign  title 
of  the  great  monarch  of  France  to  all  the  surrounding 
lands, "  in  all  their  length  and  breadth,  bounded  on  the  one 


<o  <D     V 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  135 

side  by  the  seas  of  the  North  and  West,  and  on  the  other 
by  the  South  Sea."  In  1673  Joliet  and  Marquette  paddled 
up  the  Fox  Eiver  in  their  birchen  canoes,  floated  down 
the  Wisconsin,  and  came  out  on  the  broad  waters  of  the 
Mississippi.  Descending  even  beyond  the  Missouri,  they 
returned  by  way  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Chicago  portage. 
But  most  conspicuous  among  these  bold  explorers  is  Eobert 
Cavalier  de  la  Salle,  a  marvel  of  a  man,  resolute,  brave, 
inflexible  of  purpose.  Danger,  disappointment,  hardships, 
treachery,  beset  him,  but  he  overcame  them  all  and  effected 
his  object.  In  the  year  1682  his  little  flotilla  of  canoes 
floated  down  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth,  and  La  Salle 
took  possession  of  the  vast  valley  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIY. 
Thus  the  dauntless  French  explorers  had  traversed  the 
great  West,  while  the  English  settlements  nestled  close  to 
the  Atlantic  seaboard,  almost  within  sound  of 
the  surf.  France  possessed  the  two  great  gate- 
ways and  highways  to  the  interior  of  the  continent.*  And 
thus  New  France  was  founded  with  its  two  heads,  as  Park- 
man  has  said,  one  in  the  canebrakes  of  Louisiana  and  the 
other  in  the  snows  of  Canada.  The  first  settlement  in 
Louisiana  was  in  1699,  and  New  Orleans  was  founded  in 
1718.  By  this  time  little  groups  of  Frenchmen  had  settled 
down  upon  the  banks  of  the  Western  rivers.  Here  and 
there  a  fort  was  built.  Detroit  was  founded  by  Cadillac  in 
1701.  Even  thus  early  throughout  the  West  the  points  of 
military  advantage  were  chosen. 

The  methods  of  French  colonization  form  a  sharp  con- 
trast to  those  of  the  English.     The  Englishman  came  to 

*  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  English  were  hemmed  in  between 
the  mountains  and  the  sea.  While  the  mountains  acted  as  a  barrier  to 
the  extension  of  the  English  colonies,  they  also  served  to  protect  the 
settlers  from  attack.  Doubtless  the  chief  reason  why  the  English  did 
not  extend  their  settlements  at  an  early  day  into  the  far  West  was  the 
fact  that  they  were  chiefly  interested  in  industrial  and  commercial  life, 
in  clearing  farms,  in  founding  towns,  and  in  building  ships. 
10 


136  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  New  World  for  himself — to  find  a  home,  perchance  to 

escape  religious  persecution,  or  to  follow  the  light  of  his 

own  conscience,  expecting  hy  hard  and  hon- 

cobniLtion  est  toil  to  work  nis  wav  to  comfort.  He  was 
uncared  for  by  the  mother  country,  and  his 
colony  flourished  in  neglect.  Occasionally  a  meddlesome 
governor  awakened  his  political  spirit,  but,  as  a  rule,  he 
governed  himself  as  he  chose.  He  and  his  fellows  founded 
villages  and  cities  and  established  a  lucrative  commerce. 
They  built  schoolhouses  and  churches,  and  gradually  worked 
their  way  back  from  the  sea  as  the  population  increased  and 
new  needs  arose.  Everywhere  was  prevalent  a  spirit  of 
sturdy  independence.  The  English  settler  had  not  then, 
any  more  than  he  has  to-day  in  India,  the  power  of  associa- 
tion with  the  race  below  him.  There  were  instances  of 
friendship  between  the  red  men  and  the  whites ;  there  were 
a  few  unbroken  treaties ;  but  the  career  of  the  Englishman 
was  one  of  conquest.  He  pushed  the  Indians  ruthlessly 
before  him,  and  turned  up  their  hunting  grounds  with  his 
plowshare. 

The  French  were  not  so.  Their  earliest  pioneers  were 
priests  striving  with  marvelous  heroism  to  win  heathen  to 
the  church,  or  adventurous  soldiers  who  sought 
RttwL6  Wlt  nonors  an(*  empire  for  the  monarch  of  France. 
The  settlements  along  the  St.  Lawrence  were 
harshly  ruled  by  edict  and  royal  order.  They  knew  nothing 
of  self-government  or  of  self-taxation.  The  colony  was  not 
neglected,  but  cared  for  by  the  home  Government.  It  was 
absolutely  ruled,  continually  interfered  with.  The  roots  of 
mediaeval  feudalism  were  fastened  in  the  soil.  There  was 
no  chance  for  the  development  of  men,  for  practice  in  poli- 
tics, for  self-reliance. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  a  contrast  to  this  iron  rule  were 
other  influences  in  Canada.  The  fur  trade  charmed  away 
from  the  settlements  many  restless  fellows,  who,  breaking 
over  the  restrictions  of  the  home  Government,  which  tried 


138  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

from  the  offices  of  Paris  to  control  the  details  of  the  fur 
hunting  of  America,  wandered  off  into  the  West  and  engaged 
in  the  lucrative  trade.  A  picturesque  element 
e  ur  rae,  were  these  rollicking  boatmen  and  rangers  of 
the  wood.  They  helped  France  to  hold  positions  in  the 
West,  but  they  were  of  no  great  service  as  colonists.  Some 
helped  to  make  the  little  settlements  that  were  formed  in 
the  interior  along  the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  lakes,  and 
even  beside  those  that  find  their  way  southward  to  the 
Gulf.  Thus  the  contrast  between  the  English  and  French 
colonists  was  strong,  and  the  result  of  seventy  years  of  war 
would  show  which  nation  had  the  sounder  and  better  colo- 
nial system  and  the  greater  inherent  strength. 

The  war  between  England  and  France  that  broke  out 
when  William  III  came  to  the  English  throne  spread  at 

once  to  America.*  In  1690  Sir  William  Phips 
intercolonial      je(j    a  companv   0f    New  Englanders  by  sea 

against  Port  Royal — now  Annapolis,  Nova  Sco- 
tia— and  captured  it.     Later  in  the  summer  he  made  a 

demonstration  against  Quebec,  but  did  not 
War  1689^97.   caP^ure  the  place.     At  the  close  of   the  war 

Port  Royal  was  given  up  by  the  English. 
In  1702  broke  out  Queen  Anne's  War.     This  is  known 
in  English  history  as  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession, 

because  the  controversy  seemed  to  turn  upon 
War6Ii702-'i3.   ^ne  Possible  accession  of  a  French  prince  to  the 

throne  of  Spain.  The  New  England  troops 
tried  three  times  to  take  Port  Royal,  and  the  third  time 
succeeded.  An  effort  to  take  Quebec  miserably  failed. 
The  treaty  of  Utrecht  ending  the  war  gave  to  England 
Acadia,  with  its  "  ancient  limits,"  and  this  indefinite  bound- 
ary was  fruitful  of  much  future  wrangling.     There  was  no 

*  In  1628  and  1G29  the  English  attacked  Port  Royal  and  Quebec, 
and  captured  both  places.  But  these  places  were  given  back  to  France 
in  a  short  time. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  139 

war  between  France  and  England  again  for  some  thirty 
years ;  but  there  was  little  peace  for  the  colonies.  Their 
frontiers  were  in  constant  peril  from  Indian  forays.  Tlie 
history  of  the  period  is  full  of  heartrending  stories  of  mid- 
night attack  and  slaughter. 

The  war  known  in  English  history  as  the  War  of  the 
Austrian  Succession  is  called  in  America  King  George's 
War.  Its  chief  event  was  the  capture  of  the 
Waf  1744^48.  f°rtress  of  Louisburg,  on  the  island  of  Cape 
Breton.  The  honor  fell  entirely  to  the  New 
England  troops,  though  they  were  aided  by  an  English 
fleet.  This  port  was  given  up  at  the  end  of  the  war,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  the  colonies,  who  disliked  to  see  their 
efforts  thus  disregarded.  England,  however,  paid  back  to 
Massachusetts  the  money  that  she  had  expended  in  the  en- 
terprise. 

It  was  evident  that  a  great,  fierce  contest  was  yet  to 
come,  and  France  and  England  watched  each  other  closely. 
It  was  equally  clear  that,  in  spite  of  their  great 
congress*  1754.  strengtn>  the  English  colonies  were  in  danger 
because  they  did  not  act  together.  It  was  sug- 
gested that  a  congress  for  conference  be  held,  made  up  of 
commissioners  from  the  various  assemblies.  The  chief  ob- 
ject was  a  joint  treaty  with  the  Iroquois.  Such  a  congress 
met  at  Albany.  Eepresentatives  were  present  from  seven 
colonies.  It  had  no  immediate  result,  though  the  example 
was  beyond  question  of  importance  in  succeeding  years. 
Benjamin  Franklin,  a  member  of  the  congress,  drew  up  and 
presented  a  plan  of  union  which  provided  for  the  formation 
of  a  grand  council  of  forty-eight  members  selected  from  the 
colonies  and  a  president  general  appointed  by  the  Crown. 
This  plan  of  union  was  not  acceptable  to  the 
plan,    US  colonial  assemblies,  nor  did  it  meet  with  fa- 

vor in  England.  The  lords  of  trade  had  al- 
ready prepared  a  plan  of  their  own;  but  anything  like 
a  free  union  of  the  colonies  seems  to  have   been  looked 


140  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

upon  with  suspicion  in  the  mother  country,  possibly  with 
dread.* 

The  treaty  which  ended  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succes- 
sion was  in  reality  but  a  truce.  The  treaty  of  Utrecht 
(1713)  had  declared  that  the  Iroquois  were  sub- 
EnTVdaims  <Jec^  to  ^reat  Britain,  and  now  England  claimed 
as  her  own  the  vast  territory  over  which  the 
war  parties  of  the  six  nations  ranged,  "  every  mountain, 
forest,  or  prairie  where  an  Iroquois  had  taken  a  scalp."  The 
French,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  the  whole  Mississippi 
Valley,  as  well  as  all  the  land  that  was  drained  by  rivers 
flowing  into  the  St.  Lawrence.  Acadia,  moreover,  had  been 
given  to  England.  But  what  was  Acadia  ?  Commissioners 
appointed  to  settle  the  matter  could  not  agree.  War  was 
the  tribunal  that  remained. 

Meanwhile  France  had  been  strengthening  her  position 
and  creeping  nearer  to  her  enemies  on  their  western  fron- 
tier. A  position  at  Niagara  was  taken  and 
fortified,  and  forts  were  built  on  the  head  wa- 
ters of  the  Ohio.  Thus  the  French  were  well  on  their  way 
to  hem  in  the  English  east  of  the  mountains  and  to  shut 
them  out  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  f 

Governor  Dinwiddie   of  Virginia  was  watchful  of  the 
French  advances,  and  decided  to  send  a  remonstrance.     He 
chose  as  his  messenger  George  Washington,  a 
meets  the  young  man  holding  the   position  of   adjutant 

Trench,  general  of  the  Virginia  militia.     Washington 

made  his  perilous  journey  at  the  beginning  of  winter.  He 
found  the  French  at  Fort  Le  Bceuf  as  well  as  Venango,  and 
warned  them  that  they  must  not  infringe  on  British  do- 

*  The  earliest  plan  came  from  the  great  Penn,  and  was  called  "  A 
Briefe  and  Plaine  Scheame  how  the  English  Colonies  in  the  North 
part  of  America  .  .  .  may  be  made  more  useful  to  the  Crown  and  one 
another's  peace  and  safety  with  an  universall  concurrence." 

t  See  map  opposite.  France  had  good  ground  for  claiming  the 
Texas  country,  perhaps  even  to  the  Rio  Grande. 


IgDDD 


142 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


minion.*     The  French,  of  course,  refused  to  heed   such 
warnings,  and  the  next  year  took  a  further  step  in  advance 

_______    by  occupying  a  most 

^FtE(h/ard  |  important  position.! 
They  built  Fort  Du- 
quesne  at  the  forks 
of  the  Ohio,  where 
Pittsburg  now  stands. 
This  was  the  signal 
for  war.  Washing- 
ton with  a  few  troops 
marched  against  the 
enemy,  but  was  de- 
feated and  obliged  to 
give  up  the  under- 
taking. Thus  all  Eng- 
lish efforts  to  occupy 
these  strategic  posi- 
tions were  frustrated 
by  the  French,  who  acted  with  promptness  and  decision. 
"  Not  an  English  flag  now  waved  beyond  the  Alleghanies." 

The  next  year  the  English  set  vigorously  to  work.  Gen- 
eral Braddock  was  sent  to  America  to  command  the  forces 
and  to  dislodge  the  French  in  the  West.  A 
defeat°Ci755  courageous  soldier,  and  one  who  might,  as 
Franklin  said,  have  made  a  good  figure  in 
some  European  war,  he  was  unfit  for  the  task  assigned 
him.  In  the  summer  of  1755  he  led  an  expedition  against 
Fort  Duquesne.  Near  the  Monongahela  the  army  was  at- 
tacked by  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies.  Braddock 
was  slain   and  the  whole  force   routed.      Thus  ended  the 


*  See  Parkraan's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  vol.  i,  p.  181  fl.  for  Wash- 
ington's expedition. 

f  The  English  had  actually  begun  the  works,  but  were  obliged  to 
yield  to  the  French. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  143 

first  battle  in  the  great  valley  between  the  contestants  for 
its  possession.     England  was  woefully  beaten. 

The  plans  of  this  year  included  attacks  upon  Niagara 

and  Crown  Point.    Both  efforts  were  unsuccessful,  although 

a  victory  was   won  by  the   English   at   Lake 

SSjJJJJJf       George.     The  year  brought  slight  consolation 

or  hope  to  the  English. 

While  this  fighting  was  going  on  in  America  there  was 

still  a  nominal  peace  in  Europe.     In  1756  war  was  formally 

declared  between  France  and  England.*     This 

The  Seven         was  ^he  beginning  of  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

Years'  W^ri 

The  contest  was  not  limited  to  two  combat- 
ants. It  involved  nearly  the  whole  continent.  England 
was  allied  with  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia,  and 
against  them  were  arrayed  Kussia,  Sweden, 
Saxony,  Austria,  and  France.  Frederick,  al- 
most completely  surrounded  by  foes  superior  in  power  if 
not  in  valor,  fought  with  desperation  and  with  consum- 
mate skill  and  bravery.  His  support  from  England  was  for 
a  long  time  weak  and  ineffective,  for  the  English  Govern- 
ment was  corrupt  and  feeble.  Walpole's  belief  that  every 
man  had  his  price  had  become  the  corner  stone  of  cabinets  ; 
governments  were  founded  on  bribery.  That  parliamentary 
government  was  dependent  on  corruption  had 
arisen  almost  to  the  dignity  of  a  principle  in 
political  science.  The  nation  was  strong  and  robust,  for  it 
cherished  the  precepts  of  real  freedom  ;  but  it  was  the 
coarse,  vulgar  England  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
At  the  head  of  the  Government  was  Newcastle,  an  expert 
in  corruption.  Yet  weak  as  was  England,  France  was 
weaker  still.  England  was  sound  at  heart,  because  her 
throne  rested  on  the  people.  In  France  the  monarch  was 
absolute ;   the   people  existed  for  the  Government ;   there 


*  The  Seven  Years'  War  of  Europe  (1756-63)  was  the  French  and 
Indian  War  of  America.     There  was  actually  war  here  after  1754. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


was  no  parliament  that  needed  to  be  bribed  ;  there  was  not 
even  the  appearance  of  political  life.  The  nobility  that 
surrounded  the  king  were  frivolous  lovers  of 
folly.  The  people  were  taxed  to  support  an 
empty  pageantry.  There  was  no  heart  in  the  nation.  Op- 
pression, luxury,  extravagance  prevailed,  and  the  nobility, 


that  should  have  been  the  protectors,  leaders,  and  defenders 
of  the  people,  wasted  the  people's  substance  and  despoiled 
them.* 

*  Valuable  and  entertaining  accounts  of  the  condition  of  the  com- 
batants in  Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  vol.  i,  chap,  i,  and  vol.  ii, 
chap,  xviii.  Sloane's  The  French  War  and  the  Revolution,  chaps,  i, 
ii,  and  iii. 


FEANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  145 

The  French  in  America  did  not  exceed  eighty  thousand 
in  number,  and  they  were  neither  wealthy  nor  progressive, 

but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  despotically 
Strength  of        governed,  and  had  therefore  a  certain  military 

advantage  in  a  war  with  a  self-governing  peo- 
ple. The  French  could  strike,  while  the  governors  of  Eng- 
lish colonies  were  wrestling  with  obstinate  assemblies  and 
begging  for  money  and  munitions  of  war.  Moreover,  Can- 
ada was  well  protected  by  nature  ;  she  was  shielded  by  thick- 
ets and  almost  impassable  forests.  There  were  only  two 
ways  in  which  to  reach  the  real  center  of  Canada :  one 
was  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  where  the  French  were 
strongly  posted ;  the  other  was  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  there  above  its  waters  frowned  the  fortifications  of 
Quebec.  The  French  were  aided  by  their  devoted  friends 
the  Algonquin  Indians,  while  the  English  had  no  secure 
hold  upon  the  Iroquois,  although  during  the  course  of 
the  war,  because  of  the  exertions  of  Sir  William  John- 
son, they  were  brought  to  render  the  English  cause  some 
service. 

The  English  colonies  had  a  population  of  1,300,000  white 
people.     The  people  were  well-to-do.     The  colonies  were 

supplied  with  provisions  and  other  sinews  of 

Mtorie?gliBh  war*  Wllile  {t  is  tme  tliat  the  assemblies 
were  often  obstinate  and  hesitating,  and  the 
different  colonies  were  jealous  of  one  another,  the  Eng- 
lish colonist,  unlike  the  Canadian  peasant,  knew  for  what 
he  fought.  When  once  the  colonies  were  aroused  to 
fight  they  gave  men  and  money  liberally,  and  showed  a 
power,  a  vigor,  and  an  earnestness  such  as  could  come 
only  from  free-thinking,  free-acting,  and  freedom-loving 
people. 

At  first  the  war  was  conducted  by  the  English  in  a 
slovenly  and  ineffectual  manner.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Marquis  de  Montcalm,  the  French  general,  newly  appointed 
to  command  in  Canada,  acted  with  promptness  and  vigor. 


Uti 


HISTORY   OF  T11W  AMKKKWN    NATION. 


The  Indians  wore  ceaseless  in  (heir  cruelties.*      The  two 

Fnglish    generals    who   came    over    in    \]M\     London    and 

Ahercrombie —  wore    incompetent  and  preten- 

1756andl757.    lions.     The  colonists   quite  justly   dubbed  the 

Latter     "  Miss     Nabby- 


erombie."  This  year 
Oswego,  the  English 
outpost  on  Lake  Onta- 
rio, fell.  The  next  year 
(1757)  great  prepara- 
tions were  made  to  at- 
tack Louisburg;  but 
nothing  was  accom- 
plished. Montcalm 
captured  Fort  William 
Henry  at  the  head  of 
Lake  (George.  Fort  Fd- 
ward  still  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish, but  the  northern 
frontier  was  ravaged  by 
Indian  parties,  and  the 
situation  in  New  York 
was  distressing.! 

There  now  came  into 
the  British  Cabinet  a 
great      man.        William 

Pitt    became   Secretary 

Of    State,   and    was  giyen    full    control   of  war  and    foreign 
affairs.      It  was  a  momentous  day  for  Fngland.     kk  1  am  sure 


*  "  Not  i  week  passes  but  the  French  Bend  them  [the  English]  a  band 

of    /niinlrrsst  rs    whom    thcv    would    be    wry    glad    to    dispense    with. 

(Letter  of  i  young  French  captain  to  liis  tether,  quoted  in  Montcalm 

and  Wolfe,  \ol.  I,  p.  880.) 

|  John  Adams,  on  hearing  of  these  matters,  is  said  to  have  likened 

tin1  English  generals  to  millstones  hum,'  uhout  the  colonial  neck. 


Ibr  the 


A  Contemporary  Pl 


*gr- 


AC  TIO  Ar gained  bribe  ENGXISH 
w   QUEBEC,^'/? 


Bntilk 
Amrr. 

b  JLatetUdt . 
{Itruijl'ury 


French. 
-Army 

car.* 


the  Siege  of  Quebec. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763.  147 

that  I  can  save  this  country,  and  that  nobody  else  can,"  he 
said.     He  was  full  of  life,  confidence,  and  energy.     He  was 

an  orator  of  great  power,  the  idol  of  the  com- 
am  1  '  mon  people,  a  lover  of  old  England,  and  a  be- 
liever in  her  strength.  For  the  next  four  years  the  eyes  of 
the  world  were  upon  him,  and  by  his  magnificent  daring  and 
by  the  fire  of  his  word  he  raised  slothful  England  from 
degradation  and  dismay  to  a  lofty  pinnacle  of  power,  where 
she  felt  her  strength  only  too  keenly.  "  England  has  at  last 
produced  a  man,"  said  Frederick  the  Great.  Pitt  arranged 
for  the  American  war  on  a  liberal  scale,  and  prepared  to  win. 
In  1758  Fort  Frontenac,  near  the  mouth  of  Lake  On- 
tario, and  Fort  Duquesne  were  captured  by  the  Euglish. 

But  the  next  campaign  brought  even  greater 
1758  and  1759.  victories-    The  English  were  now  confident,  the 

Canadians  in  despair.  Pitt's  courage  and  en- 
thusiasm assured  success.  The  plans  for  the  year  included 
the  capture  of  Niagara,  Ticonderoga,  and  Quebec.  Am- 
herst was  to  take  Ticonderoga,  and  then  proceed  north  to 
Quebec  and  there  join  Wolfe,  who  was  to  sail  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  beset  the  city.  The  plan  was  partly  carried 
out.  Niagara  was  captured.  This  place,  with  Fort  Du- 
quesne, secured  to  the  English  the  control  of  the  Ohio 
Valley.  Amherst  captured  Ticonderoga;  but  he  worked 
with  such  masterly  deliberation  that  co-operation  with 
Wolfe  was  impossible.  Wolfe  made  his  way  up  the  great 
river  which  the  French  had  controlled  so  long  and  prepared 
to  attack  Quebec.  The  place  was  the  strongest  natural 
fortress  in  America,  and  was  under  the  command  of  Mont- 
calm, who  was  able  and  brave.  The  whole  summer  was 
passed  without  result.  Wolfe  tried  various  expedients  to 
entice  the  enemy  to  an  open  fight,  for  to  attack  their  de- 
fenses seemed  madness.  Finally  he  determined  upon  the 
bold  and  seemingly  impossible  task  of  scaling  the  high 
bluff  that  rose  precipitously  from  the  river.  A  favoring 
ravine  seemed  to  offer  a  footing.    On  the  night  of  the  12th 


148  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

of   September  a   body  of   about  thirty-five  hundred   men 
struggled  up  the  height,  and  in  the  morning  stood  upon  the 

Plains  of  Abraham.     Montcalm  was  surprised, 

but  accepted  the  gage  of  battle.  The  battle  was  a 
brief  one.  The  French  were  repulsed.  Montcalm  and  Wolfe 
were  killed.     Quebec  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English.* 

The  next  year  (1760)  Montreal  was  taken.  This  was 
practically  the  end  of  the  war  in  America.  Peace  was  not 
made  in  Europe  until  three  years  later.  Let  us  see  the  re- 
sult of  the  great  conflict.     France  ceded  to  England  all  her 

possessions  on  the  North  American  continent 
Result  of  the      eagt  0f  ^  Mississippi,  save  New  Orleans  and 

a  small  district  adjacent  to  the  city.  New 
Orleans  and  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  to 
which  France  had  laid  claim,  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Spain,  who  gave  up  Florida  to  England.  France  was 
allowed  certain  privileges  in  the  Newfoundland  fisheries, 
and  two  small  islands  were  given  her  to  serve  as  a  shelter 
for  her  fishermen.  She  retained  her  hold  on  some  of  the 
West  Indies.  To  this  had  her  vast  dominion  in  the  New 
World  dwindled.  Great  Britain  was  now  the  great  colonial 
power  of  the  world.  The  little  island  had  become  an  em- 
pire. "  This,"  said  Earl  Granville  on  his  deathbed,  "  has 
been  the  most  glorious  war  and  the  most  triumphant  peace 
that  England  ever  knew."  \ 

The  triumph  of  Wolfe  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  the 


*  Horace  Walpole  wrote :  "  What  a  scene  !  An  army  in  the  night 
dragging  itself  up  a  precipice  by  stumps  of  trees  to  assault  a  town  and 
attack  an  enemy  strongly  intrenched  and  double  in  numbers!  The 
king  is  overwhelmed  with  addresses  of  our  victories;  he  will  have 
enough  to  paper  his  palace."  Parkman  says :  "  England  blazed  with 
bonfires.  In  one  spot  alone  all  was  dark  and  silent ;  for  here  a  widowed 
mother  mourned  for  a  loving  and  devoted  son,  and  the  people  forbore  to 
profane  her  grief  with  the  clamor  of  their  rejoicings." 

t  "  Englishmen  had  permanently  girdled  the  globe  with  English 
civilization  and  opened  boundless  avenues  to  English  enterprise." 
(Sloane,  The  French  War  and  the  Revolution,  p.  108.) 


150  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

most  striking  event  of  this  war,  is  a  turning  point  in  mod- 
ern history.     It  determined  that  all  this  vast  western  region 
should  pass  into  English  hands ;  that  here  Eng- 
A  turning  point  ligh  ideag  of  freedom  and  law,  English  customs 

in  history.  ° 

and  methods  of  thought,  should  prevail.  It 
determined  that  the  civilization  of  the  great  valley  should 
be  Teutonic,  and  not  Latin.  In  addition  to  this,  the  acqui- 
sition of  Canada  was  of  great  moment  in  our  history. 
The  colonists  were  freed  from  the  fear  of  French  invasion, 
and  stood  no  longer  in  constant  dread  of  Indian  attacks. 
They  could  now  with  some  hope  of  safety  push  their  way 
across  the  mountains.  Moreover,  relieved  of  these  anxie- 
ties, they  felt  less  their  dependence  on  England,  although 
all  gloried  in  the  name  of  Englishmen  when  the  mother 
country  was  thus  at  the  zenith  of  her  power.  The  war  had 
shown  that  provincial  troops  could  fight  and  that  pro- 
vincial officers  were  not  devoid  of  skill.  The  blunders  of 
men  like  Loudon,  and  the  domineering  conduct  of  other 
British  officers,  left  a  tinge  of  resentment  in  the  colonial 
heart.* 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Thwaites,  pp.  33-49,  Chapter  XII,  274-284; 
Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  II ;  Sloane,  The  French  War 
and  the  Revolution,  Chapters  III  to  IX;  Bourinot,  The  Story  of 
Canada,  especially  Chapters  XII,  XIII,  and  XVIII;  Hiusdale,  The 
Old  Northwest,  Chapters  III  to  V;  Cooley,  Michigan,  pp.  1-65; 
Griffis,  Sir  William  Johnson  and  the  Six  Nations. 

The  whole  subject  of  this  chapter  is  covered  in  a  series  of  fasci- 
nating books  by  Francis  Parkman.  The  reader  will  find  them  full 
of  interest.  The  titles  are :  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World ; 
The  Jesuits  in  America;  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great 
West;  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada;  Count  Frontenac  and  New 
France  under  Louis  XIV;  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict;  Montcalm 
and  Wolfe ;  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 

*  "With  the  triumph  of  Wolfe  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham  began 
the  history  of  the  United  States."  (Green,  History  of  the  English 
People,  vol.  iv,  p.  193.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

Social,  Industrial,  and  Political  Condition  of  the  Colonies  in 

1760. 

Each  of  the  English  colonies  that  lay  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  its  own 
individuality  and  its  own  peculiarities.  The 
Contrasts  and  people  of  one  colony  knew  little  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  others ;  and  one  can  find  very  little 
evidence  of  sympathy  and  fellow-feeling,  or  of  any  realiza- 
tion of  a  common  interest  and  a  single  destiny.  Without 
sympathy  there  could  be  no  true  national  life  nor  any 
strong  sentiment  of  patriotism,  and  there  could  not  be  sym- 
pathy without  knowledge.  In  its  origin  and  history  each 
colony  differed  from  the  others,  and  the  course  of  events  up 
to  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  seemed 
rather  to  strengthen  these  differences  than  to  wear  them 
away.  Climatic  conditions  varied  greatly:  the  mean  yeaily 
temperature  of  Maine  is  not  far  from  that  of  southern 
Norway,  while  the  mean  yearly  temperature  of  Georgia  is 
nearly  the  same  as  that  of  northern  Africa.  Amid  such 
dissimilar  surroundings  there  grew  up,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  distinct  methods  of  social  and  industrial  life.  And 
yet  there  was  a  strong  bond  of  union  binding  these  groups 
of  men  together.  They  had  common  political  ideals,  built 
upon  the  fundamental  principles  of  English  freedom ;  and 
although  each  colony  differed  somewhat  from  every  other, 
they  all  differed  still  more  widely  in  spirit  and  essential 
character  from  the  countries  of  Europe. 

11  151 


152 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


If  one  is  to  understand  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
he  must  keep  in  mind  this  diversity  and  this  inevitable 
tendency  to  union  and  harmony.  For  these 
Importance  of  differences  were  of  importance  not  simply 
while  the  nation  was  in  its  infancy  (1765- 
'90)  or  in  the  days  when  it  was  first  trying  its  youthful 
strength.     All  through   our  history,  even  to  the  present 

time,  sectional  and  local 
peculiarities  have  had  their 
influence.  At  times  they 
have  endangered  the  well- 
being  of  the  whole  nation. 
The  important  fact  is  this : 
because  of  these  differences, 
when  the  colonies  separated 
from  Great  Britain,  they 
could  not  yield  up  all  rights 
of  local  government  to  a 
central  government,  inas- 
much as  each  colony  or 
State  felt  its  own  individu- 
ality. On  the  other  hand, 
the  colonies  were  inspired 
by  the  same  political  pur- 
pose ;  the  ruling  spirit  in 
all  was  a  spirit  of  progress ;  they  cherished  like  ideals ;  they 
had  a  common  cause,  which  could  be  realized  only  through 
union  and  co-operation.  Thus  it  was  that  the  United 
States  came  to  be — having  one  Government  which  repre- 
sents the  common  interests  of  all  and  carries  out  the  pur- 
poses of  all,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  being  made  up  of  States 

*  Samuel  Adams,  often  called  the  Man  of  the  Town  Meeting  and  the 
Father  of  the  Revolution,  is  the  best  example  of  an  energetic  politician 
and  statesman  of  the  late  colonial  period.  The  original  of  this  picture, 
painted  by  Copley,  hung  for  a  time  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  but  is  now 
in  the  Art  Museum.    See  post,  pp.  180-183. 


&m 


/a7^W^ 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  153 

or  commonwealths,  where  the  people  can  regulate  their  own 
local  concerns  and  manage  their  own  affairs  as  they  choose. 

While  it  is  true  that  each  of  the  colonies  had  its  own 
peculiar  life  and  character,  we  can  easily  dis- 
ree  groups,  tinguish  three  groups  of  colonies  :  the  South- 
ern, middle,  and  New  England  groups.  In  considering  the 
conditions  of  colonial  life,  it  will  be  well  to  make  use  of 
this  classification. 

All  of  the  colonies  south  of  Pennsylvania  had  many 
characteristics  in  common.  The  similarity  was  due  to  the 
-    h  fact    that    they    were    founded    on    slavery.* 

colonies  founded  There  were  slaves  in  all  the  colonies ;  but  in  the 
on  slavery.  South  slavery  directly  shaped  the  industrial 
and  social  life  of  the  people.  In  Virginia,  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  one  half  of  the  population  were 
slaves.  South  Carolina  contained  even  more  negroes  than 
white  people,  and  the  number  was  rapidly  increasing  by 
importations  from  Africa  or  the  West  Indies.  In  all  the 
colonies  rigorous  laws  were  passed  to  guard  against  a  servile 
insurrection;  but  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  rigidly 
enforced,  and  on  the  whole  the  slaves  were  well  treated. 

The  slave  does  the  task  assigned  him,  but  does  not 
readily  change  his  methods  or  take  up  new  work.  There- 
fore, partly  because  of  slave  labor,  the  indus- 
trial interests  of  the  South  were  not  diverse. 
The  great  staple  product  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  was 
tobacco.     South  Carolina  raised  rice  and  indigo.     All  the 

*  We  should  notice,  too,  that  even  up  to  the  Revolution  convicts  were 
shipped  from  England  to  America  and  entered  into  servitude  in  the 
colonies.  They  seem  to  have  been  more  abundant  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line  than  at  the  north.  We  are  told  that  in  Maryland 
"not  a  ship  arrives,  with  either  redemptioners  or  convicts,  in  which 
schoolmasters  are  not  as  regularly  advertised  for  sale  as  weavers,  tail- 
ors, or  any  other  trade."  In  addition  to  these  convicts  in  servitude, 
were  redemptioners,  persons  who  bound  themselves  to  service  for  a 
short  term  of  years,  generally  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  voyage  to 
America. 


154  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Southern  colonies  were  purely  agricultural,  and  they  raised 
few  products  for  export.  There  was  almost  no  manufactur- 
ing. The  commonest  articles  of  household  use  were 
brought  from  the  mother  country  or  from  the  New  Eng- 
land colonies. 

There  were  in  1760  over  three  fourths  million  people 
living  south  of  Pennsylvania,  and  yet  Charleston  and  Balti- 
more were  the  only  cities  of  any  importance 

SSSaSShl*  south  of  PniladelPnia-  Although  Virginia  was 
the  oldest  colony,  and  had  a  population  of 
about  five  hundred  thousand  at  the  end  of  the  colonial 
period,  there  were  no  cities  and  only  one  large  town  within 
its  borders.  In  the  early  days  the  people  were  ordered  by 
law  to  build  towns,  but  these  paper  places  never  amounted 
to  anything.  The  plantations  were  the  units  of  Virginia 
life,  and  by  studying  them  we  can  see  the  real  social  forces 
of  the  colony. 

In  Virginia  there  were  natural  or  physical  reasons  for 
the  absence  of  towns  and  the  predominance  of  country  life. 
Eeasonfbr  ^ne  "cn'  ^eT^G  so^  tempted  men  to  agricultu- 

absence  of  towns  ral  life.  Moreover,  the  branching  rivers  navi- 
m  lrgmia.  gable  from  the  sea  served  as  great  highways  to 
the  interior.  Vessels  sailed  up  to  the  planter's  very  door 
to  discharge  their  cargoes  and  to  be  loaded  with  tobacco. 
Thomas  Jefferson  said :  "  Our  country  being  much  inter- 
sected with  navigable  waters,  and  trade  brought  generally 
to  our  doors  instead  of  our  being  obliged  to  go  in  quest  of 
it,  has  probably  been  one  of  the  causes  why  we  have  no 
towns  of  any  consequence."  * 

The  large  Virginia  plantation  was  a  small  community 
almost  sufficient  unto  itself.  Its  center  was  the  large  and 
_  hospitable   planter's   home,  built   of   wood   or 

The  planter.         ,.  *  .     r      .     ...      .  .  .  , 

brick.  Around  this  imposing  mansion  clus- 
tered the  offices,  and  not  far  away  was  the  little  village  of 
negro  cabins.     The  plantation  gave  food  in  profusion ;  other 

*  Notes  on  the  State  of  Virginia,  C^uery  XII. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760. 


155 


necessities  and  luxuries  were  brought  from  England  to  the 
planter's  wharf  in  exchange  for  tobacco.  Everywhere  was 
a  look  of  lavishness  and  of  open,  free-handed  living  in  this 
golden  age  before  the  Eevolution.  Lavishness  had  already 
in  many  instances  become  extravagance.  Many  a  planter 
living  in  profusion  was  in  debt  to  an  English  merchant ;  his 
mansion  house,  with  its  show  of  elegance,  was  out  of  re- 
pair;* his  large  band 
of  slaves  was  systemat- 
ically exhausting  the 
soil;  and  there  were 
other  evidences  of  waste- 
fulness and  loose  busi- 
ness methods.  But  it 
was  a  happy,  easy  life. 
The  jovial  planter  may 
have  been  haughty, 
proud,  extravagant,  and 
perchance  impetuous, 
but  he  was   apt  to  be 

straightforward,  hospitable,  honest,  with  a  keen  sense  of 
honor,  and  a  thorough  devotion  to  his  rights  and  liberties. 

Although  the  great  planter  was  the  most  important  per- 
sonage of  colonial  Virginia  and  dominated  its  social  and 
political  life,  there  were  others  whose  presence 
must  not  be  forgotten.  There  were  the  fron- 
tiersmen with  their  small  clearings,  men  who 
were  pushing  out  into  what  was  then  the  new  West,  and 
who,  earning  their  bread  by  their  own  toil,  had  little  in 
common  with  the  aristocratic  planters  of  the  East.  Then 
there  were  the    poor   whites,  reckless,  rollicking  fellows, 


Gunston  Hall,  the  Home  of  George 
Mason. 


Elements  in 
Virginia. 


*  "  The  Virginians,"  said  a  traveler,  "  are  not  generally  rich,  espe- 
cially in  net  revenue.  There  one  often  finds  a  well-served  table  covered 
with  silver  in  a  room  where  for  ten  years  half  the  window  panes  have 
been  missing,  and  where  they  will  be  missed  for  ten  years  more."  These 
words  were  written  of  a  somewhat  later  time,  but  were  true  of  1760. 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

many  of  them,  who  gathered  around  tha  country  taverns  to 
bet  on  horse  races  or  to  engage  in  wrestling  and  gouging 
matches.  And,  lastly,  there  was  a  certain  middle  class, 
rough,  unlettered  men,  perhaps,  but  often  of  sterling  worth 
and  good  stock  for  a  commonwealth. 

The  College  of  William  and  Mary,  established  in  1693, 
was  the  only  college  in  the  South.     The  sons  of  the  great 

planters  often  studied  in  Europe,  or  they  were 
Schools  and        taught  by  private  tutors.     The  common  people 

received  little  or  no  education.  Libraries  and 
other  means  of  education  were  few.  Yet  it  would  be  wrong 
to  regard  the  average  planter  as  stupid  or  ignorant.  There 
was  much  that  was  invigorating  in  his  life.  The  sense  of 
responsibility  and  power  which  he  constantly  felt,  his 
interest  in  politics,  his  intercourse  with  other  men,  which  a 
boundless  hospitality  encouraged — made  him,  in  spite  of 
his  somewhat  secluded  life,  a  man  of  strong  parts,  with  a 
knowledge  of  himself  and  some  skill  in  dealing  with  his 
fellows.  There  was  something  wholesome  in  the  society 
which  in  one  generation  produced  several  of  the  great  men 
of  the  world's  history.  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Mar- 
shall belong  not  to  Virginia,  but  to  the  world. 

The  New  England  colonies  at  the  end  of  the  French 
War  had  a  population  of  nearly  six   hundred   thousand, 
Massachusetts  alone  having  almost  three  hun- 
dred   thousand    inhabitants.     These    colonies 
differed  somewhat  from  one  another  in  their  social,  indus- 
trial, and  political  makeup;   but  on  the  whole  they  were 
much  alike,  while  they  presented  many  sharp  contrasts  to 
the  colonies  of  the  South.     The  population  was  of  almost 
pure  English  blood.     There  were  a  few  slaves, 
but  slavery  did  not  materially  affect  the  condi- 
tions of  life  or  change  the  development  of  the  colonies. 
"  Originally  settled,"  said  a  contemporary  writer,  "  by  the 
same  kind  of  people,  a  similar  policy  naturally  rooted  in  all 


CONDITION  OF   THE   COLONIES  IN   1760.  157 

the  colonies  of  New  England.  Their  forms  of  government, 
their  laws,  their  courts  of  justice,  their  manners,  and  their 
religious  tenets,  which  gave  birth  to  all  these,  were  nearly 
the  same." 

The  isolated  life  of  the  plantation  was  unknown  in  New 
England ;  the  small  farmer  was  within  sound  of  the  church 
bell  and  within  reach  of  a  schoolhouse.  There 
were  many  causes  for  this  concentration  of  pop- 
ulation. Some  were  natural  or  physical  causes,  some  sprang 
from  the  purposes  and  character  of  the  colonists.  The 
chief  reasons  were  the  following :  1.  The  long  and  dreary 
winter  of  New  England  brought  the  people  together  for 
companionship  and  protection.  2.  The  soil  was  poor,  and 
yielded  its  crops  only  to  the  diligent  toiler ;  it  did  not  by  its 
fertility  beguile  man  to  easy  agriculture ;  he  was  tempted  to 
become  a  trader  or  a  mechanic.  3.  Since  the  sea  was  more 
fruitful  than  the  land,  little  fishing  villages  dotted  the 
coasts.  4.  The  rivers  were  many  of  them  rapid  and  narrow, 
well  suited  to  turn  the  mill  wheel,  but  not  serving  as  high- 
ways from  the  sea.  5.  For  a  century  before  the  Eevolution 
the  Indian  was  a  constant  source  of  fear,  and  this  dread 
induced  the  frontiersman  not  to  move  too  far  from  the  vil- 
lage and  the  common  defenses.  6.  Moreover,  the  early 
settlers  were  men  of  intense  religious  conviction  and  pur- 
pose ;  they  came  to  worship  together,  and  in  consequence 
the  first  settlements  were  clustered  around  the  meeting- 
house. 7.  In  many  instances,  too,  the  people  had  been 
moved  by  a  common  interest  to  emigrate  from  "  dear  Eng- 
land," and  they  therefore  settled  together  as  a  community 
to  live  out  together  a  common  life.  The  town  was,  as  a 
consequence,  almost  from  the  outset  the  most  noticeable 
thing  in  the  social  and  political  structure  of  the  colony. 

While  Virginia  was  almost  solely  given  up  to  agricul- 
ture, the  New  England  States  had  various  industries. 
Farming,  of  course,  occupied  a  great  portion  of  the  popula- 
tion; but,  especially  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island, 


158  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

some  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing.     Every  New  Eng- 
lander,  taught  by  stern  necessity,  became  a  mechanic  more 

or  less  "handy  with  his  tools."  Had  it  not 
Varied  been  for  the  repressive  policy  of  the  mother 

country,  the  hum  of  the  busy  factory  wheels 
would  have  been  heard  along  many  of  the  swift  water  courses 
that  were  ready  to  give  their  force  for  the  asking.  As  it 
was,  something  was  done  :  linens  and  woolens  were  woven ; 
the  smith  and  tanner  plied  their  trades  ;  homely  articles  of 
daily  use  were  made  by  the  farmer  and  his  sons,  and  the 
housewife  prepared  the  simple  homespun. 

Many  were  interested  in  ocean  commerce,  and  were 
showing  a  skill  that  has  become  proverbial  in  all  the  arts  of 

trade.     Shipbuilding  had  grown  to  be  a  great 

industry.  With  their  own  ships  the  hardy  Yan- 
kee seamen  made  long  voyages.  Before  the  end  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  they  sailed  along  the  coast  of  the  South- 
ern States  in  their  little  sloops  and  ketches.  The  trade 
with  the  West  Indies  came  to  be  of  great  importance.  Car- 
goes of  fish  and  lumber  were  taken  to  the  islands,  and  sugar 
or  molasses  was  brought  back.  Voyages  to  the  countries  of 
southern  Europe  were  not  uncommon.*  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  before  the  Eevolution  the  New  England  colonies 
had  developed  a  wide  commerce,  and  established  a  founda- 
tion for  a  broad  and  varied  industrial  life. 

New  England  was  founded  by  men  full  of  religious  en- 
thusiasm. Throughout  its  colonial  existence  its  religious 
beliefs  strongly  affected  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  peo- 


*  "  No  sea,"  exclaimed  Burke,  "  but  what  is  vexed  by  their  fisheries. 
No  climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their  toils.  Neither  the  perseverance 
of  Holland,  nor  the  activity  of  France,  nor  the  dexterous  and  firm 
sagacity  of  English  enterprise,  ever  carried  this  most  perilous  mode  of 
industry  to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  pushed  by  this  recent 
people — a  people  who  arc  still,  as  it  were,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet 
hardened  into  the  bone  of  manhood."  These  words  were  spoken  of  the 
colonies  in  general,  but  are  especially  true  of  the  New  England  colonies. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  159 

pie.     Religion  was  part  of  the  daily  social  life  of  the  Puritan ; 
it  was  not  something  set  apart  for  Sundays  and  fast  days. 
By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  other 
6  glon'  elements  than  the  strictly  puritanic  were  every- 

where visible,  but  society  was  still  largely  ruled  by  the 
early  conceptions.  Life  was  still  running  in  the  channels 
marked  out  by  the  founders  of  the  colony.  The  Puritan 
faith  was  firmly  held  by  strong  men,  and  its  believers  helped 
to  form  as  sound  and  virile  a  community  as  the  world  could 
show.  In  early  times  churchgoing  was  the  chief  occupation 
of  Sunday.  The  churches  were  not  heated  in  winter,  but 
the  devoted  congregation  seemed  not  to  be  disturbed  by 
cold.  One  of  this  old,  hardy  school,  writing  in  1716,  tells 
of  the  bread's  being  frozen  at  the  communion  table,  and 
says  :  "  Though  it  was  so  cold,  yet  John  Tuckerman  was 
baptized.  At  six  o'clock  my  ink  freezes  so  that  I  can  hard- 
ly write  by  a  good  fire  in  my  wife's  chamber.  Yet  was  very 
comfortable  at  meeting."  One  must  honor  the  steadfast 
earnestness  which  warmed  this  good  man.  From  such  firm 
believers  in  what  they  believed,  and  sturdy  doers  of  what 
they  thought  right,  came  many  of  those  who  in  later  years 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  republic. 

"  The  public  institutions  in  New  England  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  supporting  colleges  at  the  public  expense, 
and  obliging  towns  to  maintain  grammar 
schools,  are  not  equaled,  and  never  were,  in  any 
part  of  the  world."*  Thus  John  Adams  forcibly  stated 
one  great  fact  that  lay  at  the  bottom  of  New  England's 
worth.  The  colonies  were  founded  by  men  who  respected 
learning.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  illiter- 
acy was  almost  unknown.  Each  man  could  read  his  Bible  ; 
he  could  read  his  books  on  politics  as  well  as  religion. 
Burke  says  that  almost  as  many  copies  of  Blackstone's 
Commentaries  were  sold  in   America  as  in  England,  and 

*  Familiar  Letters  of  John  Adams,  p.  120. 


160  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

General  Gage  wrote  from  Boston  that  the  people  in  his 
government  were  either  lawyers  or  smatterers  in  law. 
"  This  study,"  says  Burke,  "  renders  men  acute,  inquisitive, 
dexterous,  prompt  in  attack,  ready  in  defense,  full  of  re- 
sources." When  Great  Britain  determined  to  coerce  Massa- 
chusetts, she  arrayed  against  herself  the  most  enlightened 
and  intelligent  population  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Politically  New  England  was  nearly  a  pure  democracy. 

Socially  it  was  democratic  in  comparison  with  Europe  or 

with  the  colonies  of  the  South.    The  New  Eng- 

Classes  of  jan(j  y^We,  with  its  wide  street,  its  rows  of 

society.  °  '  ' 

comfortable  houses,  and  its  big  roomy  yards, 
declared  more  plainly  than  words  that  no  feudal  system 
had  ever  laid  its  burden  on  the  people.  It  was  clear  also 
that  the  aristocracy  of  the  plantation  had  no  place  there. 
And  yet,  though  few  had  anything  that  could  be  called 
riches,  and  none  need  be  poor,  there  were  social  differences 
in  New  England.  Some  families  were  entitled  to  distinc- 
tion. The  best  pews  in  church  were  reserved  for  them; 
they  were  treated  with  deference  and  respect.  The  "  old 
families "  were  preferred  to  the  "  newcomers."  Society 
was  divided  into  gentlemen,  yeomen,  merchants,  and  me- 
chanics, but  the  lines  were  not  sharply  drawn.  Such  prim- 
itive variations  from  pure  democracy  seem  quaint  and 
trivial.  One  would  greatly  err,  however,  if  he  believed  that 
these  social  distinctions  did  not  influence  the  development 
of  our  history. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  the  Eevolution  the  population 

of  the  middle  colonies  had  reached  four  hundred  thousand. 

Many  different  nationalities  were  represented, 

odoXlddl6  the  emigrants  from  tne  countries  of  Conti- 
nental Europe  having  come  in  larger  numbers 
to  these  colonies  than  to  others.  Though  agriculture  here, 
as  elsewhere,  was  of  chief  importance,  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia were  thriving  towns  with  considerable  foreign  com- 


CONDITION  OF   THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  161 


New  York  City  in  1732,  from  Brooklyn  Heights. 

merce.  In  Pennsylvania  manufacturing  was  begun,  giving 
prophecy  of  the  immense  development  of  the  future. 

The  middle  colonies  had  no  such  facilities  for  education 
and  no  such  devotion  to  learning  as  the  New  England  colo- 
nies. In  New  York  was  King's  College,  estab- 
lished about  the  middle  of  the  century.  It  was 
not  largely  attended,  and  did  not  materially  affect  the  ideals 
of  the  colony.  The  lower  schools  throughout  the  province 
were  neither  good  nor  plentiful.  In  New  Jersey,  thanks  to 
the  large  New  England  element  that  had  settled  there,  a 
few  good  schools  were  found.  Princeton  College  was  found- 
ed by  the  Presbyterians  in  1746,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  though  still  small,  it  was  an  influential  and 
thrifty  institution.  Philadelphia  possessed  two  public  libra- 
ries besides  many  excellent  private  ones,  filled  with  copies  of 
the  classics  of  the  time.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 
was  already  founded  and  was  in  a  flourishing  condition,  the 
most  important  and  influential  college  in  the  Middle  States, 
and  hardly  second  to  the  New  England  colleges. 

Of  all  the  northern  colonies  New  York  had  the  nearest 
approach  to  an  aristocracy.  There  was  a  class  of  great  land- 
holders possessed  of  vast  estates.  These  men  had  much 
political  and  social  influence.  They  towered  above  their 
neighbors.      Some  of  the  estates  had  been  established  in 


162 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


New  York 
aristocracy 


Democracy  in 
Pennsylvania 


Dutch  times,  and  some  of  their  holders  were  descendants  of 
men  upon  whom  the  old  West  India  Company  had  lavished 
its  grants.  Spite 
of  this  aristocracy, 
the  great  control- 
ling sentiment  of  the  colony  was 
democratic,  and  petty  class  dis- 
tinctions were  sure  in  time  to 
fall  before  the  rising  tide  of 
democracy. 

Pennsylvania,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  free  from  aristocratic 
burdens.  "In Penn- 
sylvania," said  Al- 
bert Gallatin  at  a 
later  day,  "  not  only  we  have 
neither  Livingstons  nor  Rensse- 
laers,*  but  from  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Ohio  I 
do  not  know  a  single  family  that  has  any  extensive  influ- 
ence. An  equal  distri- 
bution of  property  has 
rendered  every  individ- 
ual independent,  and 
there  is  among  us  true 
and  real  equality."  The 
people  were  sober-mind- 
ed, conservative.  If 
other  colonies  were  has- 
ty, Pennsylvania  was  de- 
liberate. To  the  more 
fiery  colonies  of  the 
South  and  North  she 
seemed  at  times  phleg- 
matic and  devoid  of 
spirit.     But  Pennsylva- 

*  Two  of  the  great  New  York  families. 


The  Birthplace  of  Benjamin  Fkank- 
lin,  in  Boston. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  163 

nia  cherished  her  liberties  and  knew  how  to  defend  them. 
The  success  of  the  American  republic  was  to  depend  largely 
on  the  good  sense  and  liberality  of  democratic  Pennsylvania. 

If  we  should  confine  our  attention  solely  to  the  cen- 
tral government  of  each  colony,  we  should  get  but  a  faint 
idea  of  the  political  life  of  the  American  colonists.     Kep- 

resentative  assemblies  were,  as  we  have  seen, 

alert  and  active;  they  show  that  the  people 
were  alive  to  political  questions ;  they  stand  out  sharply 
in  contrast  with  the  government  of  Canada,  where  power 
was  despotic.  But  the  virility  of  American  politics  is  per- 
haps even  more  clearly  seen  in  the  local  organizations.  There 
were  three  systems  of  local  government :  «,  the  township ; 
b,  the  county ;  c,  a  mixture  of  the  two.  The  New  England 
colonies  had  the  town,  the  Southern  colonies  the  county, 
and  the  middle  colonies  the  mixed  system. 

The  town  grew  up  naturally  in  New  England.  The  peo- 
ple of  each  small  community  governed  themselves.  All  the 
little  affairs  of  the  neighborhood  were  the  concern  of  the 

town  meeting.*  There  was  nothing  beyond  its 
^nd!0™'8         reach.     It  sought  to  know  "  the  town's  mind," 

and  to  declare  it.  Each  man  was  entitled  to 
take  part  in  its  sturdy  discussions,  and  each  was  expected 
to  bow  to  the  decision  of  the  town.  Selectmen  were  elected 
to  have  general  charge  of  town  affairs ;  and  a  clerk, \  whose 
duties  were  various,  and  a  constable  were  also  chosen.     Be- 

*  The  town  played  an  important  part  in  its  relation  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony,  but  its  local  duties  were  chief  in  its  own  eyes  doubt- 
less. An  example  of  thorough  local  legislation  is  illustrated  by  the 
following :  "  It  is  ordered  that  all  doggs,  for  the  space  of  three  weeks 
after  the  publishinge  hereof,  shall  have  one  legg  tied  up.  ...  If  a  man 
refuse  to  tye  up  his  dogg's  legg  and  he  bee  found  scraping  up  fish  in  the 
corne  field,  the  owner  shall  pay  12s.  besides  whatever  damage  the  dogg 
doth."  Quoted  in  Hart,  Practical  Essays  on  American  Government, 
pp.  144,  145. 

f  Not  simply  the  orders  of  the  town  meeting  were  written  in  his 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

sides  these  officers  there  were  many  others.  Some  were 
regularly  and  annually  elected,  others  because  of  a  tem- 
porary need.  The  titles  and  duties  of  these  men  bring  be- 
fore us  the  readiness  of  the  town  to  express  its  "  mind  "  on 
any  subject  of  common  interest.  Among  them  we  find 
tithing  men ;  fence  viewers ;  hog  reeves ;  measurers  of 
wood ;  overseers  of  measurers  of  wood ;  men  to  take  "  care 
of  the  Ale  wives  not  Being  stoped  from  going  up  the  Revers 
to  cast  their  sporns  " ;  men  to  prevent  cheating  by  those 
who  sold  lumber,  "  because  bundles  of  shingles  are  marked 
for  a  greater  number  than  what  they  contain  " ;  wardens  to 
inspect  "  ye  meeting  Hous  on  ye  Lord's  Day  and  see  to  Good 
Order  among  ye  Boys  " ;  cattle  pounders ;  sealers  of  leather ; 
gamekeepers  "  to  Bee  the  men  for  Prevesation  of  the  Deare 
for  the  year  Insuing." 

Here,  then,  men  learned  the  art  of  government,  and 
they  learned  the  lessons  of  obedience  as  well.  The  New 
A  school  of  Englander  did  not  gain  his  ideas  of  govern- 
practioal  ment  from  books;  he  based  his  theories  on 

po1  C8,  practice  and   experience.     The  town  meeting 

was  his  school.  Men  thus  trained  could  not  accept  tyranny ; 
accustomed  to  govern  themselves,  they  were  ready  to  re- 
sent the  slightest  encroachment  upon  their  rights. 

The  South  did  not  have  the  town.  Its  method  of  set- 
tlement had  not  naturally  produced  it.  The  nearest  ap- 
proach to  the  town  of  New  England  was  the 
parish  of  Virginia ;  but  its  functions  were  few, 
and  its  duties  were  in  the  hands  of  select  vestrymen.  The 
Virginia  county  was  the  organ  of  local  government.  The 
population  of  a  county  was  not  large,  perhaps  no  greater 

books ;  but  births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  transfer  of  pews  in  the  meet- 
inghouse, estrays  taken  up,  as  "  a  Red  Stray  Hefar  two  years  old  and 
she  hath  sum  white  In  the  face."  He  wrote  down,  too,  the  earmarks 
of  the  farmers'  cattle.  "  Joshua  Brigs  mark  Is  a  Scware  Crop  In  the 
under  side  of  ye  Right  ear."  See  the  delightful  account  in  Bliss,  Colo- 
nial Times  on  Buzzard's  Bay,  chap.  vi. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  165 

than  that  of  an  average  New  England  town ;  but  the  people 
were  scattered,  and  popular  gatherings  were  inconvenient. 
Most  important  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the 
e  ooun  y.  county  officers  were  appointed  by  the  royal 
governor,  and  were  not  the  agents  of  the  people.  Its  vari- 
ous officers  thus  represented  the  power  of  the  common- 
wealth, not  of  the  locality ;  or,  more  correctly,  they  repre- 
sented the  power  of  the  Crown  in  the  colony.  Were  it  not 
for  the  sterling,  vigorous  independence  begotten  by  the  free- 
dom of  Virginia  life,  one  might  fancy  that  under  such  a 
system  free  institutions  would  be  in  danger  of  extinction. 
Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  local  authority  was  in 
the  hands  of  men  chosen  by  the  governor  from  the  neigh- 
borhood, not  strangers  or  creatures  of  a  foreign  power,  and 
Results  of  a^so  ^nat  the  laws  under  which  they  acted  were 

the  political  made  by  the  people's  own  representatives.* 
organization.  Qne  regul^  at  j^  f0iiowed— practice  in  ad- 
ministrative government  fell  to  a  select  few;  the  colonies 
were  governed  by  the  conspicuous  planters,  who  felt  their 
aptitude  for  rule.  Moreover,  the  colony,  as  the  source  of 
power,  impressed  itself  strongly  upon  the  minds  of  its  citi- 
zens. Jefferson  thus  expressed  his  appreciation  of  Virgin- 
ia's lack  of  proper  local  organization  :  "  Those  wards,  called 
townships  in  New  England,  are  the  vital  principle  of  their 
government,  and  have  proved  themselves  the  wisest  inven- 
tion ever  devised  by  the  wit  of  man  for  the  perfect  exercise 
of  self-government,  and  for  its  preservation." 

In  the  middle  colonies  neither  the  county  system  of 
Virginia  nor  the  town  system  of  New  England  prevailed, 
but  a  mixture  of  the  two.  There  were  counties  and  towns 
in  both  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  In  Pennsylvania  the 
county  officers  were  chosen  by  popular  election,  but  the 

♦"The  centralized  system  created  able  political  leaders,  just  as  the 
town  meeting  created  a  well-trained  democracy,  while  the  forces  of 
American  life  tended  to  carry  both  alike  against  Crown  and  Parlia- 
ment."    (Hinsdale,  The  American  Government.) 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

township  had  also  its  duties.     In  New  York  the  towns  were 
of  some  importance  and  influence,  but  the  most  conspicu- 
ous feature  of  the  system  of  this  colony  was  the 
The  middle         election  of  supervisors  by  the  towns  to  form  a 

colonies. 

representative  body  to  regulate  the  affairs  of 
the  county. 

These  three  systems  of  local  government  are  of  more 
than  mere  historic  interest,  because,  as   the  country  has 

grown,  each  has  played  its  part  in  the  local 
Influence  of        organization  of  the  new  States.     Speaking  gen- 

tnese  systems.  °  r  °  ° 

erally,  one  may  say  that  the  various  systems 
have  been  carried  westward  along  the  parallels  of  latitude. 
The  town  prevails  to-day  in  the  Northern  States  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  the  county  in  the  Southern  States.  The 
method  of  connecting  the  town  with  the  county  by  the  elec- 
tion of  supervisors  has,  moreover,  been  widely  adopted,  espe- 
cially in  the  Northern  States  westward  to  the  Pacific. 

There  was  great  general  similarity  in  the  form  and 
methods  of  colonial  government.  Yet,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  there  were  differences.  The  colonies  may 
°o™rnment8  be  classified  as  follows :  (a)  Koyal,  (b)  proprie- 
tary, and  (c)  charter  colonies.  In  the  first  the 
governor  was  appointed  by  the  Crown,  and  could  veto  laws 
of  the  assembly ;  the  form  of  government  had  no  guaranty 
by  the  terms  of  a  written  charter.  In  the  second  there  was 
a  proprietor,  who  appointed  the  governor  and  had  other 
rights.*  In  the  third  the  people  had  a  charter  from  the 
Crown,  in  which  certain  privileges,  such  as  the  right  to 
elect  their  own  officers,  were  granted  them.  The  royal 
colonies  were  (1775)  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Caro- 
lina, Virginia,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  New  Hampshire. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
and  Maryland  were  proprietary  colonies.  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island  were  possessed  of  liberal  charters  which  con- 

*  See  the  accounts  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760.  16V 

stituted  them  practically  into  little  self-governing  republics. 
Massachusetts  had  also  a  charter,  and  may  be  classed  with 
the  last  two  as  a  charter  colony ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  governor  was  a  royal  appointee,  and  thus  it  may  more 
correctly  be  considered  a  semi-royal  colony.  The  organiza- 
tion of  each  colony  was  strikingly  like  that  of  every  other. 
Each  had  a  governor,  a  council  whose  duties  were  partly 
advisory,  partly  legislative,  and  generally  also  judicial,  and 
a  popular  house  based  on  popular  but  by  no  means  universal 
manhood  suffrage.  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Georgia 
had  only  one  legislative  house.* 

Everywhere  in  the  colonies   the  spirit  of  liberty  was 

"  fierce."  \     The  temper  and  character  of  the  people  made 

the  broad  foundation  for  free  government.    "  In 

The  spmt  of  ^-g  character  of  the  Americans  a  love  of  free- 
liberty, 

dom  is  the  predominating  feature  which  marks 

and  distinguishes  the  whole ;  and  as  an  ardent  is  always  a 
jealous  affection,  your  colonies  become  suspicious,  restive, 
and  untractable  whenever  they  see  the  least  attempt  to 
wrest  from  them  by  force  or  shuffle  from  them  by  chicane 
what  they  think  the  only  advantage  worth  living  for.  This 
fierce  spirit  of  liberty  is  stronger  in  the  English  colonies 
probably  than  in  any  other  people  of  the  earth."  Filled 
with  this  fierce  spirit  of  liberty,  the  colonies  were  sure  to 
break  away  from  the  mother  country  whenever  she  aban- 
doned her  wise  neglect  and  assumed  the  right  to  dictate  or 
control.  Their  governments  were  already  so  organized  that 
a  change  in  the  monarchical  head  would  cause  no  violent 
shock,  no  great  disruption  in  daily  life  and  industry.  Popu- 
lar governors  might  take  the  place  of  royal  favorites,  and 
popular  wishes  might  be  more  readily  carried  into  effect, 
but  the  political  training  of  the  people  gave  assurance  that, 


*  An  admirable  treatment  of  colonial,  general  and  local  govern- 
ment is  in  Hinsdale,  The  American  Government,  chap.  ii. 

f  Burke,  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America,  Works,  ii,  p.  120. 
12 


168 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


though  there  might  be  danger  of  occasional  violence  and 
turbulence,  revolution  would  not  mean  dissolution,  anarchy, 
or  riot. 

References. 

Channing,  The  United  States  of  America,  Chapter  I ;  Lodge, 
Short  History,  Chapters  II,  IV,  VI,  VIII,  X,  XIII,  XV,  XVII, 
XXII  (a  series  of  very  valuable  chapters)  ;  Fisher,  Colonial  Era, 
Chapter  XXI ;  Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  I  (1750)  ; 
Hinsdale,  The  American  Government,  pp.  36-51  ;  Cooke,  Virginia, 
pp.  364-374 ;  Hosmer,  Samuel  Adams,  Chapter  XXIII. 


William  and  Mary  College,  Williamsburg,  Va. 
From  an  old  print. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
Causes  of  the  Revolution. 

The  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars  found  Eng- 
land elated  and  jubilant.     She  had  established  an  immense 
empire.     The  long  struggle  for  the  possession 
England's  0£  America  was  over.     In  India,  too,  she  had 

new  duties.  . 

gained  a  secure  foothold.  Her  expansion  and 
development  during  the  last  hundred  years  was  marvelous. 
But  her  great  success  brought  new  duties  and  dangers. 
Could  she  rule  wisely  and  well  these  vast  colonial  posses- 
sions ?  Could  she  adapt  herself  to  her  new  situation  ?  She 
was  no  longer  girt  about  by  "the  four  seas";  her  tasks 
were  world-wide.  To  solve  her  problems  she  must  appre- 
ciate their  difficulty,  and  act  with  rare  wisdom  and  sense. 

But  England  inwardly  was  not  in  a  healthy  condition. 
She  was  entering  upon  a  period  of  industrial  growth  and 

prosperity ;  the   period  of  stagnation   was  be- 

STneTannd.ti011  hind  her>  but  her  Political  system  had  not  de- 
veloped to  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  her 
people.  The  great  underlying  principles  of  her  Constitu- 
tion were  good,  and  on  them  a  free  popular  government 
could  be  reared.  Now,  however,  her  government  was  in 
reality  aristocratic,  not  popular.  The  whole  system  of 
representation  had  become  utterly  wrong  and  foolish.  She 
still  clung  to  the  doctrine  that  money  must  be  voted  by  the 
people's  representatives — the  House  of  Commons.  But  the 
house  did  not  rest  on  the  votes  of  the  whole  people,  or 
even,  indeed,  on  a  large  part  of  them.     Large  and  thriving 

169 


170 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


cities  were  without  the  right  to  send  members  to  Parlia- 
ment, while  little  boroughs  of  a  few  houses  had  such  right, 

simply  because  they  had    long 
ago  acquired    it.      These    little 
places  were  often  willing  to  sell 
their  votes,  or  to  cast  them  as 
directed  by  some  nobleman  who 
had  control  of  the  people.     Eng- 
land needed  to  popularize  Parlia- 
ment and  bring  her  government 
into    closer    relations  with    the 
people  before  she   could  wisely 
govern  free   Englishmen  in  the 
colonies,   who  were  accustomed 
to  think  and  act  for  themselves. 
It  is  probably  true  that,  in 
spite   of    these    absurdities  and 
faults  in  the  representative  system,  the  will  of  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  was  not  ill  set  forth  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons ;    yet  it  is  clear  that  representation  in 

American  idea  of     .  .  ,,  .  ,.—  ,   -M  i     , 

America  meant  something  different  from  what 
it  meant  in  England,  and  that  the  American 
system  was  more  reasonable  and  right.  In 
each  of  the  colonies  there  was  an  assembly  made  up  of  men 
taken  from  the  body  of  the  people.  The  people  of  each 
representative  district  felt  that  they  had  thus  a  part  in 
making  the  body  that  made  the  laws.  In  England,  on  the 
other  hand,  men  were  supposed  to  be  represented  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  even  though  great  and  populous  sec- 
tions had  no  participation  in  the  election.     For  this  and 


representation 
compared  with 
English  idea. 


*  Henry  played  a  great  part  in  the  events  that  led  to  separation 
from  Great  Britain.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  orators  America  has 
produced.  George  Mason,  himself  a  man  of  ability,  said :  "He  is  by 
far  the  most  powerful  speaker  I  ever  heard.  But  his  eloquence  is  the 
smallest  part  of  his  merit.  He  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  first  man  upon 
this  continent  as  well  in  abilities  as  public  virtues." 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  171 

other  reasons  England  could  not  fully  appreciate  American 
sentiment.  Englishmen  held  that  America  was  represented 
in  the  English  Parliament,  because  it  was  the  Parliament 
of  the  empire.  An  American  colonist  could  not  understand 
that  sort  of  representation.  In  other  ways  the  colonists  gov- 
erned themselves  more  fully  than  the  people  of  England 
governed  themselves.  A  revolution  set  in  and  the  two 
peoples  were  torn  apart,  largely  because  England  had  now 
fallen  behind  the  colonists  in  her  appreciation  of  doctrines 
of  political  liberty  and  her  application  of  them. 

Moreover,  George  III  had  just  come  to  the  throne  with 
strong  ideas  of  the  kingly  prerogative.  He  aimed  to  con- 
trol Parliament  more  fully  than  had  been  done 
MsM^*1  since  the  Sreat  re^olution  (1688).  He  had 
built  up  a  faction  of  personal  supporters, 
known  as  the  "  king's  friends."  He  sought  to  manage  the 
ministry  to  suit  his  own  desires.  If  this  coalition  between 
an  aristocratic  Parliament,  a  ministry  founded  on  bribery, 
and  a  designing  king  were  once  fully  formed,  the  liberties 
of  England  were  in  danger,  perhaps  were  already  a  thing 
of  the  past.  And  so  America  was  to  fight  for  English  as 
well  as  American  liberty.  "  America,"  exclaimed  the  great 
Pitt,  the  true  founder  of  this  new  British  empire,  "  Amer- 
ica, if  she  fell,  would  fall  like  the  strong  man  with  his  arms 
around  the  pillars  of  the  Constitution." 

An  idea  prevailed  in  England  that  the  colonies  were  the 

property  of  the  mother  country,  that  they  existed  for  her. 

Men  did  not  think  of  the  colonists  as  English- 

The lde* of         men,  separated  indeed  from  the  old  country  by 

ownership.  '       r  ^      J 

three  thousand  miles  of  water,  but  Englishmen 
still.  They  did  not  conceive  of  America  simply  as  an  ex- 
pansion of  England.  They  thought  of  England's  owning 
the  colonies,  and  too  often  seemed  to  think  that  she  owned 
the  colonists.  Thus  the  whole  basis  of  relationship  was 
wrong.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  Such  notions  had 
prevailed  in  Europe  since  Spain  had  obtained  her  colonial 


172  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

"possessions."  Natural  as  this  feeling  was,  it  prevented 
the  English  people  from  treating  the  restive  Americans 
with  fairness  and  with  the  consideration  that  was  their 
due.  "  Every  man  in  England,"  said  Franklin,  "  seems  to 
jostle  himself  into  the  throne  with  the  king  and  talks  about 
our  subjects  in  America." 

Up  to  this  time  (1760)  the  mother  country  had  not  tried 

to  tax  the  colonies  directly,  or  to  interfere  with  their  local 

concerns.     External  trade  had  been  regulated 

A  sensible  somewhat,  and  was  generally  conceded  to  be  a 

compromise  i 

matter  for  the  English  Government.  But  in 
internal  affairs  the  colonies  largely  managed  their  own  con- 
cerns. The  colonies  had,  as  we  have  often  said,  flourished 
in  neglect.*  When  it  was  suggested  to  wise  old  Robert 
Walpole  that  he  tax  the  colonies,  he  exclaimed,  "  What !  I 
have  old  England  set  against  me,  and  do  you  think  I  will 
have  new  England  likewise  ?  "  England  should  have  rested 
content  with  this  practical  and  sensible  compromise.  It 
might  be  asserted  that  it  was  illogical,  and  that  the  British 
Parliament  was  supreme  over  the  colonies,  and  had  as  good 
right  to  pass  laws  for  the  internal  management  of  the 
colonies  as  to  make  regulations  for  external  trade.  But  it 
was  not  a  question  of  logic ;  it  was  a  question  of  common 
sense. 

As  early  as  1651,  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  England  legis- 
lated in  behalf  of  English  commerce  to  cut  off  any  profit 

there  might  be  to  foreign  countries  in  trading 

iTawsnaVigati0n  with  her  colonies-  After  this  time  la^s  multi- 
plied, all  directed  toward  the  same  end,  namely, 
the  holding  of  the  entire  colonial  commerce  in  her  own 
hands.  Only  English  or  colonial  ships  could  carry  on 
colonial  trade ;  the  most  important  products  of  the  colonies 


*  "  The  colonies,"  said  Burke,  "in  general  owe  little  or  nothing  to 
any  care  of  ours,  .  .  .  but  through  a  wise  and  salutary  neglect  a  gen- 
erous nature  has  been  suffered  to  take  her  own  way  to  perfection." 


Causes  of  the  revolution.  173 

could  be  carried  only  to  England,  and — perhaps  most  im- 
portant of  all — foreign  goods  could  not  be  brought  to  the 
colonies  except  under  heavy  duty,  unless  first  shipped  from 
an  English  port.  In  other  words,  the  colonies  were  re- 
stricted to  the  English  market  and  to  English  carriers,  save 
where  they  had  their  own  vessels;  and  they  were  not 
allowed  to  import  foreign  goods  save  by  using  the  English 
merchants  as  their  factors.  Moreover,  trade  between  the 
colonies  was  restricted.  In  addition  to  all  this,  acts  had 
been  passed  to  stamp  out  the  beginnings  of 
American  manufactures  in  order  that  the 
colonies  might  be  dependent  on  England  for  supplies.  It 
must  be  said  that  other  countries  with  colonial  possessions 
treated  their  colonists  with  less  consideration  than  England 
did.  In  some  respects  English  legislation  favored  colonial 
enterprise,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  last  French  war  the 
laws  do  not  seem  to  have  injured  the  colonies  materially. 
An  attempt  to  enforce  them,  however,  and  to  secure  not 
simply  a  monopoly  of  American  trade  but  to  obtain  revenue, 
irritated  the  colonies  and  helped  to  bring  on  disaster. 

The  navigation  laws  had  not  been  rigidly  enforced. 

They  were  constantly  broken.     But  now,  before  the  end  of 

the  French  war,  the  ministry  became  infatuated 

Writs  of  ^fa  t^e  idea  of  stopping  this  lawlessness  and 

assistance. 

enforcing  the  acts.  One  of  the  means  em- 
ployed was  the  issuing  of  general  warrants  to  search  for 
smuggled  goods.  These  warrants  were  called  "  writs  of 
assistance."  Such  a  writ  gave  general  and  not  particular 
instruction  to  the  revenue  officers.  It  was  good  for  an  in- 
definite time,  and  might  serve  as  authority  for  search  in  any 
suspected  place.  Such  a  power  in  the  hands  of  an  officer 
is  dangerous  to  liberty.*  In  1761  a  great  case  arose.  James 
Otis,  a  young   and   brilliant   lawyer,  argued    before  the 

*  Notice    the   Constitution   of  the    United    States,    Amendments, 
Article  IV,  where  general  warrants  are  made  illegal. 


m 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Superior  Court  of  Massachusetts  against  the  validity  of 

these  writs.  He  declared  that  to  use  them  was  an  act  of 
tyranny  such  as  had  "  cost  one  king 
of  England  his  head,  and  another 
his  throne."  He  declaimed  against 
the  acts  of  trade  which  imposed 
"  intolerable  taxes,"  and  inveighed 
against  "the  tyranny  of  taxation 
without  representation."  "Then 
and  there,"  said  John  Adams,  "was 
the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of 
opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims 
of  Great  Britain.  Then  and  there 
the  child  of  Independence  was 
born." 

Shortly     after     this     Patrick 

Henry  made   a    great   speech    in 

A   statute  had  been  passed  by  the   Virginia 

Legislature  that  materially   lessened    the  income  of  the 
clergymen,  which  was  payable  in  tobacco.    This 

The  parson's       acf.  wag  deciarecl   void   by  royal   authority  in 

causei  y         *  •» 

England.  A  clergyman  now  brought  suit  to 
obtain  his  dues  under  the  law  as  it  existed  before  this 
statute  was  passed.  Henry  was  retained  for  the  defense, 
and  poured  out  his  torrents  of  new-found  eloquence  in 
defense  of  the  right  of  the  colonial  legislature  to  pass  such 
laws  as  it  chose,  without  reference  to  the  gracious  per- 
mission of  the  English  king.  He  declared  "  that  a  king, 
by  disallowing  acts  of  this  salutary  nature,  from  being  the 
father  of  his  people  degenerates  into  a  tyrant,  and  forfeits  all 
right  to  his  subjects'  obedience."  The  jury  brought  in  a 
verdict  of  one  penny  damage  for  the  poor  parson.  Thus  it 
appears  that  in  Massachusetts  and  in  Virginia  popular 
young  orators  were  ready  to  preach  a  doctrine  that  savored 
of  rebellion.  The  Americans  were  then  faithful  subjects 
of  King  George,  but  Henry  struck  the  keynote  of  colonial 


Virginia. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  175 

politics  when  he  asserted  that  the  test  of  a  law's  validity- 
was  not  the  kingly  sanction,  but  the  people's  desire.* 

George  Grenville  f  is  said  to  have  brought  on  the  Amer- 
ican war  because  he  read  the  colonial  dispatches.     Other 

ministers  had  been  content  to  let  the  colonies 
determines  to  go  their  own  way,  and  to  wink  at  breaches  of 
enforce  the  laws.  ^e  navigation  laws.  Grenville  began  to  ex- 
amine into  their  affairs  and  to  study  their  condition.  He 
resolved  to  enforce  the  revenue  acts,J  using,  if  need  be,  the 
royal  navy  for  the  purpose.  This  was  sure  to  bring  on  dis- 
turbance, for  an  enforcement  of  the  Sugar  Act  alone 
would  be  a  great  hardship  to  New  England,  because 
it  would  damage  a  lucrative  commerce  with  the  West 
Indies. 

Grenville  also  saw  that  the  colonies  were  prosperous  and 
rich.  The  English  Government  had  expended  vast  sums 
of  money  in  the  late  war,  and  it  seemed  to  him  only  just 
that,  inasmuch  as  the  colonies  had  profited  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  French  power,  they  should  now  pay  for  their 
own  protection.  In  accordance  with  his  recommendation 
Parliament  passed  a  Stamp  Act.  It  provided  that  bills, 
notes,  marriage  certificates,  legal  documents,  etc.,  should 

be  written  only  on  stamped  paper.  The  rev- 
The  Stamp  Act,   enue  stained  from  the  sale  of  stamps  was  to 

be  used  for  colonial  defense.  The  plan  was 
not  devised  for  enriching  the  mother  country  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  colonies  ;  for  it  was  fully  expected  that  the  tax 
would  yield  not  more  than  £100,000 — less  than  one  third 

*  Tyler's  Patrick  Henry,  chap,  iv,  gives  a  picturesque  account  of  this 
famous  case. 

f  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
1763-'65. 

%  "  The  customhouses  were  to  be  something  more  than  cosy  nooks 
on  the  wharves  where  holders  of  sinecures  might  doze  comfortably ;  the 
ships  of  war  everywhere  were  to  be  instructed  to  enforce  the  revenue 
laws."    (Hosmer,  Life  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  p.  52.) 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 


m 


the  amount  England  must  expend  to  protect  America 
efficiently  from  foreign  invasion  or  Indian  uprising.  It 
can  not  be  said,  therefore,  that  the  law  was  an  act  of 
greed,  or  of  tyranny.  But  the  colonists  resented  it;  it 
ran  counter  to  all  their  practices  and  principles.  Their 
love  of  liberty  was  "fixed  and  attached  on  this  specific 
point  of  taxing."  * 

The  Stamp  Act  alarmed  America.     The  Virginia  As- 
sembly adopted  resolutions,  offered  and  eloquently   sup- 
ported by  Patrick  Henry,  declaring  that  "  tax- 
The  Stamp  Act  ation   of  pe0pie  by  themselves  or  by  persons 

Congress.  r      r  j  j    r 

chosen  by  themselves  to  represent  them  .  .  . 
is  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  British  freedom,  and 
without  which  the  ancient  constitution  can  not  subsist." 
The  Massachusetts  rep-     rf^  H  E  LlEUTENANT  Governor 

declares  he  will  do  nothing  in 

*""     Relation  to  the  STAMPS,  but 

leave  it  to  Sir  Henry  Moore,  to  do  as 

he  pleafes,   on  his  Arrival.    Council 

Chamber,  New-York,  Nov.  2?  1765. 

By  Order  of  his  Honour, 

Gw.  Banyar,  D.  CI.  Con. 

The  Governor  acquainted  Judge  Li* 

virigfton,ihe  Mayor,  Mr.  Beverly  Robin- 

Indians,  and  all  else  had    >.'an^;>^  ST7<^h  *^S?i 

being  Monday  the  4th  of  November,  that 

he  would  not  iffue,  nor  fuffer  to  be  if- 
fued,  any  of  the  STAMPS  now  in  Fort- 
George.  Robert  R.  Lruingftcm. 
John  Cruger, 
Beverly  RoiinJbn9 
John  Stevens. 

The  Freemen,  Freeholders,  and  In- 
habitants of  this  City,  being  fatisfiedthat 
the  STAMPS  are  not  to  be  iffued,  are 
determined  to  keep  the  Peace  of  the  Ci- 
ty, at  all  Events,  except  they  fliould 
have  other  Caufe  of  Complaint. 
Handbill  issued   in  New   York   to 

Allay     Excitement     and    Check 

Riotous  Opposition  to  the  Stamp 

Act. 


resentatives  called  for  a 
general  congress  of  the 
colonies.  In  October 
(17G5)  delegates  from 
nine  colonies  assembled 
in  New  York.  Fear  of 
the  French,  dread  of  the 


hitherto  not  brought 
about  union.  Now  in 
a  moment,  when  their 
chosen  liberties  were 
threatened,  they  came 
together.  The  congress 
drew  up  memorials  ad- 
dressed to  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  and  a 
"Declaration  of  Rights 
and  Grievances  of  the 
Colonists  in  America." 


Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America. 


178  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

But  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act  was  not  all  by  remon- 
strance.    In  Boston  during  the  summer  there  was  disorder. 
The  stamp  collector  was  hanged  in  effigy ;  the 
Disorder  and       ncmse  of  Chief  -Justice  Hutchinson  was  sacked. 

riots. 

Other  acts  of  violence  occurred.  Though  the 
town  meeting  of  Boston  expressed  its  "  abhorrence  "  of  such 
conduct,  it  was  clear  that  there  were  some  who  did  not 
distinguish  between  orderly  and  disorderly  resistance.  New 
York  was  the  headquarters  of  the  English  army  in  America ; 
but  here,  too,  there  were  mobs.  There  was  strong  evidence 
everywhere  that  the  act  could  be  enforced  only  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  if  at  all.  Societies  were  organized,  called 
"Sons  of  Liberty,"  pledged  to  resist  the  obnoxious  law. 
Many  entered  into  agreements  not  to  use  British  goods. 

Meanwhile,  there  was  amazement  and  discomfiture  in 
England.     The  merchants  began  to  feel  a  loss  of  trade. 

Grenville  had  resigned  before  he  could  see  the 
repealed0*         consequence  of  his  own  well-meaning  folly.     A 

new  ministry  was  confronted  with  serious  diffi- 
culties. America  seemed  actually  on  the  verge  of  open 
violence  and  resistance.  A  great  debate  took  place  in 
Parliament.  William  Pitt,  who  for  some  time  had  been 
kept  by  illness  from  his  place  in  the  House,  now  appeared 
to  support  the  colonial  cause.  He  declared  that  there  was 
a  plain  distinction  between  "  taxes  levied  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  revenue  and  duties  imposed  for  the  regulation  of 
trade."  He  insisted  that  internal  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation was  tyranny,  and,  if  the  Americans  yielded,  it 
would  be  an  evil  omen  for  English  liberty.  "  The  gentle- 
men tell  us,"  he  exclaimed,  "  America  is  obstinate ;  America 
is  in  open  rebellion.  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted." 
The  act  was  repealed.  There  was  great  rejoicing  on  both 
sides  of  the  ocean. 

Had  England  been  content  with  this  comfortable  re- 
treat all  would  have  been  well.  But  new  acts  were  soon 
passed  quite  as  obnoxious  as  the  old.     The  opponents  of 


Glorious  News. 

BOSTON,     Friday  n  o'clock,   1 6th  May  1766. 

THIS  Inftant  arrived  here  the  Brig  Harrifon,  belonging 
to  John  Hancock,  Efq;  Captain  Sbisbael  Coffin,  in  6 
Weeks  and  2  Days  from  London',  with  important 
News,  as  follows. 


From  the  London  Gazrttb. 
Weftminjler,     March   »8*h,    1766. 

THIS  Jay  his  M.ijcfly  came  to  tKe  FToufe  of  Peers.  arvJ  being  in  his  royaj 
robes  ieatcd  on  the  tluonc  with  the.  ufu?l  folemmty,  Sir  Francis  Moli. 
neux.  Gendcmaji  UQier  of  the  Black  Rod,  was   Inn  with  a  Mcflugo 
from  hrt  Majelly  to  tlic  Houle  or  Commons,  commanding  their  atten- 
dance in  the  Houfeof  Peers.     The  Commons  being  come  thither  accordingly, 
lus  Majefly  wa*  plcafcd  to  give  his  roynl  a(fcnr  to 

An  ACT  «b  REPEAL  an  Aft  made  in  the  bff  S(  (hon  of  Parliament,  in* 
tirulcd.  an  Aft  for  granting  and  applying  certain  Stamp- D.mcs  and  other  Ditties 
in  (he  Brkifh  Colonics  and  Plantations  in  America,  toward*  further  defraying 
the  evinces  of  defending,  protecting  and  fecunag  the  fame,  and  for  amending 
fuc'n  parts  of  the  fcvcral  Afts  of  Parliament  reJanng  to  the  trade  and  revenues 
of  the  hid  Colonics  and  Plantanons.  as  direft  the  manner  of  determining  and! 
rccovcimg  the  penalties  and  forfeitures  therein  mentioned. 
AJfo  ren  public  bills,  and  fcrentcen  pnvateoncs. 


When  the  KING  went  to  the  Houfc  of  Peers  to  give  the  Royal AfTcnt.  there 
was  fuch  a  vafl  Concourleof  People  ruiz/aing,  clapping  Hands,  &c.  tlut  it 
was  fevcral  Huuu  befptc  His  Maftlty  reached  the  Houfc. 

Immcdiatelyon  His  Majclfv's  Signing  the  Royal  Ailcnt  to  the  Repeal  of  the 
Stamp-Aft.  the  Merchants  trading  to  America. difpatched  a  VcfTel  which  had  been 
in  waiting,  to  pot  into  the  firft  Port  on  the  Continent  with  the  Account.  , 

There  were  thcgrcuell  Kqoicmgs  poflible  in  thcCicy  of  London,  by  all  Ranks 
of  People,  on  the  TOTAL  Repeal  of  the  S:amp-A/r.— the  Ships  in  the  River 
dif played  all  thcrr  Ct^uuts,  UJ-i..:u(tnns  2nd.B°nfire«  m  manv  Parts.  —  In 
(hurt,  the  Rejoicings  were  as  great  as  wis  ever  known  on  any  Occafion. 

It  is  faid  the  Afts  of  Trade  relating  to  America  would  be  taken  under  Con- 
fidcration.  and  all  Grievances* removed.  The  Friends  10  America  arc  very  pow- 
erful, and  difpofed  ro  aflifl  us  to  rhe  utraoft  of  their  Abdity. 

Capt.  Blake  failed  the  fame  Day  with  Capt.  Coffin,  and  Capt.  Shand  a  Fort- 
night before  him,  both  bound  to  this  Port. 

//  is  impoffblc  to  cxprefs  the  y>;y  the  Town  it  now  in,  en  receiving  the 
ab'j'je,  great,  glorious  and  important  N EtVS—The  Belli  n  -tl  the  Churches 
■wen  immediately  fet  a  Ringing,  and  we  beet  the  "Day  for  a  general  Rejoicing 
■will  be  the  beginning  of  next   fVeek. 

■ vyw.o'wj — 1 — 1 —  — -, 

Printed  for  the  Benefit  of  the   PUBLIC,     by 
Drapers,    Ede\  &  GiU>   Green  Sc   Ruffell,  and   Fleets, 
The  CufAouiers  10  the  BoftonPapers  may  have  the  above  gratis  at  thcr  efpeftive 

Handbill  announcing  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


the  Stamp  Act  had  declared  that  England  could  not  im- 
pose a  direct  tax,  but  could  regulate  the  external  trade  of 
the  colonies.  Charles  Townshend,  a  brilliant, 
2jJ  ^^hend  flippant  man,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
proposed  to  levy  duties  on  goods  imported  into 
the  colonies,  as  a  fair  example  of  external  regulation.  The 
act  was  passed  laying  an  import  duty  on  tea,  paints,  paper, 
glass,  and  red  and  white  lead.     The  writs  of  assistance 

were  declared  legal.  The  rev- 
enue was  to  be  used  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  the  judges  and  roy- 
al governors  in  America.  From 
what  we  have  seen  of  the  strug- 
gles of  the  colonial  assemblies 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  object  of 
the  duty  rendered  it  doubly  dis- 
agreeable ;  if  money  were  thus 
expended,  the  governors  and 
judges  would  be  entirely  re- 
moved from  popular  control. 
Added  to  this  grievance  was 
the  fact  that  about  this  time 
Parliament  suspended  the  legis- 
lative functions  of  the  New 
York  Assembly,  because  it  had 
not  made  suitable  provision  for  quartering  the  British 
troops. 

The  colonists   protested   against  the  Townshend  acts. 
There  was  a  clear  practical  distinction  between  "regula- 
tion "  and  duties  for  revenue.     Samuel  Adams, 
protests.  "  ^*e  man  °^  tne  town  meeting,"  was  now  clerk 

of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly.  In  this  posi- 
tion he  was  active  in  keeping  resentment  at  the  proper 
pitch.  He  wrote  a  series  of  addresses  that  were  issued  by 
the  Assembly.     The  most  important  document  of  all  was  a 


STU^Zt, 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  181 

circular  letter  sent  to  the  other  colonies  asking  co-operation 
and  consultation.  John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  wrote 
at  this  time  the  famous  "Farmer's  Letters,"  full  of  good 
sense  and  shrewd  reasoning.  "  English  history,"  he  hinted, 
"affords  examples  of  resistance."  Non-importation  and 
non-consumption  agreements  were  entered  into.  Some 
revenue  was  obtained  under  the  act,  but  the  net  returns 
were  a  mere  trifle.  Troops  were  sent  to  Boston  in  the 
autumn  of  1768.  From  this  time  on  Boston  was  the  center 
of  attention. 

Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  Townshend  acts  Parlia- 
ment  petitioned  the  king  that   persons  in  the   colonies 

charged  with  treason  should  be  carried  to 
A  dangerous        England  for  trial.     This  seems  to  have  been 

a  mere  threat,  but  if  Parliament  was  not  in 
earnest  it  was  playing  with  a  sacred  right,  the  right  of  an 
Englishman  to  be  tried  by  a  jury  of  the  vicinage  or  the 
neighborhood.     To  withhold  this  privilege  was  tyranny.* 

On  hearing  of  this  action  by  Parliament,  the 
The  Virginia      Virginia   House  passed  a   series   of    resolves. 

They  assured  the  king  of  the  loyalty  of  his 
subjects,  but  asserted  in  unmistakable  language  the  right 
of  petition  and  the  privilege  of  self-taxation,  and  declared 
that  sending  persons  "  beyond  the  sea  to  be  tried  is  highly 
derogatory  of  the  rights  of  British  subjects." 

In  1770  the  Townshend  acts  were  modified.  The  duty 
was  taken  off  all  the  articles  save  tea,  but  the  act  so  altered 
was  as  obnoxious  as  before.     The  discussion  in  Parliament 


*  It  is  nowhere  more  strikingly  denounced  than  in  Burke's  Letter 
to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bristol.  "  A  person  is  brought  hither  in  the  dungeon 
of  a  ship's  hold ;  thence  he  is  vomitted  into  a  dungeon  on  land,  loaded 
with  irons,  unfurnished  with  money,  unsupported  by  friends,  three 
thousand  miles  from  all  means  of  calling  upon  or  confronting  evidence, 
where  no  one  local  circumstance  that  tends  to  detect  perjury  can  pos- 
sibly be  judged  of : — such  a  person  may  be  executed  according  to  form, 
but  he  can  never  be  tried  according  to  justice." 


182 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


disclosed  the  utter  failure  of  many  to  appreciate  the  prin- 
ciples which  the  colonists  cherished.  It  was  not  a  paltry 
£40,000  a  year  that  was  at  stake ;  the  princi- 
ftake?Ciple  at  Ple  of  self-taxation  and  the  rights  of  the  popu- 
lar assemblies  were  in  danger.  This  is  what 
Webster  meant  when  he  said  at  a  later  day,  "  They  went  to 
war  against  a  preamble.  They  fought  seven  years  against 
a  declaration." 

Meanwhile  the  British  troops  in  Boston  were  a  constant 
irritant.  The  House  of  Eepresentatives  refused  to  legislate 
or  pass  bills  of  supply.  They  denounced  a 
standing  army  as  a  menace  to  their  liberties. 
They  absolutely  refused  to  pay  for  quartering 
the  troops  (1769).  "We  never  will  make  provision  for  the 
purposes  in  your  several  messages  above  mentioned,"  they 

quietly  and  firmly  asserted. 


The  Boston 
Massacre. 


AMERICAN  SI 

«EAa       IN       RfMSMJUtAHCe 

The    HORRID    MASSACREI 

Perforated  in  Kingtftrcet.  Boston. 

New-Engfand. 

On  the  Evening  of  March  the  Fifth,    1770 

When  five  of  your  fellow  countrymen, 

Cray.  Mamrick,  Caldwrll.Attucks 

and  Cars, 

Lay  fallowing  in  their  Core  I 

Being   ba/efy,  and    mod  inbamantj 

MURDERED! 

And  SIX  others  badly   wounded  ! 

By    a  Party  of  the    XXIXtn    Regiment. 

Under  thfcommand  of  Capt.  Tho.  Prefton 

ICMIMItHl 

ThatTwo  of  the  Murdireri 

Were   convifted  of   MANSLAUGHTER 

By    a  Jury,    of  whom  I  fhall  fay 

NOTHING. 

Branded  in   the  hand  I 

And  difmijftd, 

The  others  were  Acquitted, 

And  their  Captain  .PENSIONED! 

Portion  of  a  Handbill  recall- 
ing: the  Boston  Massacre. 


The  soldiers  on  the  streets 
were  a  source  of  annoyance 
and  were  often  insulted  and 
provoked  by  crowds  of  men 
and  boys,  who  delighted  in 
teasing  them.  On  the  night 
of  March  5,  1770,  occurred 
the  "  Boston  Massacre."  A 
small  guard  of  soldiers,  irri- 
tated beyond  endurance, 
fired  into  a  crowd  and  in- 
stantly killed  three  persons 
and  wounded  several  others, 
two  mortally.  Only  the  im- 
mediate arrest  of  the  offend- 
ing soldiers  prevented  a  serious  riot.  The  town  meeting 
next  day,  under  the  lead  of  Samuel  Adams,  demanded  the 
immediate  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the  town.  To 
this  demand  the  authorities  finally  acceded,  and  stationed 
the  soldiers  on  an  island  in  the  harbor.     The  massacre 


CAUSES  OF  THE   REVOLUTION.  183 

caused  great  excitement  throughout  the  colonies.  When 
the  soldiers  were  tried  on  the  charge  of  murder,  they  were 
defended  hy  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy,  two  bright 
young  lawyers,  whose  devotion  to  the  popular  cause  had 
not  stifled  their  sense  of  justice.  Two  soldiers  were  found 
guilty  of  manslaughter  and  slightly  punished. 

For  some  time  there  was  quiet ;  but  all  danger  was  not 
removed.  By  this  time  Samuel  Adams  had  made  up  his 
Local  mind  that  the  colonies  ought  to  be  independ- 

committees  of  ent.  He  worked  without  ceasing.  In  1772 
correspondence.  he  moved  in  the  Boston  town  meeting  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  "  to  state  the  rights  of  the  Colo- 
nists and  of  this  province  in  particular  as  men,  as  Christians 
and  as  subjects ;  .  .  .  also  requesting  of  each  Town  a  free 
communication  of  their  sentiments  on  this  subject."  Thus 
was  shown  the  worth  of  the  town  meeting  as  a  weapon 
against  oppression.  The  Assembly  might,  mayhap,  be  dis- 
solved, browbeaten,  even  outwitted ;  the  town  meetings, 
everywhere  alert,  could  not  be  crushed. 

In  this  year  (1772)  an  English  ship,  the  Gaspee,  whose 
commander  seems  to  have  been  very  arbitrary  and  arrogant 
in  his  efforts  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws,  was 
attacked  and  burned  by  a  party  of  Rhode 
Islanders.*  We  need  not  excuse  the  act ;  it  was  a  piece  of 
violence  that  deserved  condemnation ;  but  the  English 
Government  unduly  magnified  the  offense  and  appointed  a 
commission  for  investigation,  which  threatened  to  take  the 
culprits  to  England  for  trial.  The  offenders  could  not  be 
discovered,  however,  while  the  high-handed  methods  of  the 
commission  aggravated  the  discontent  in  the  colonies.  The 
Virginia  Assembly  appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence 
to  keep  in  communication  with  the  other  colonies.     Thus  a 

*  There  were  many  acts  of  violence  during  these  years ;    and  we 
need  neither  excuse  nor  commend  them.     But  we  must  remember  that 
a  great  revolution  was  in  progress,  and  that  in  such  times  violent  men 
and  wicked  characters  find  an  opportunity  for  disorder. 
13 


184  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

means  was  provided  for  getting  the  colonies  to  act  in  con- 
cert. "  In  this  manner,"  says  Bancroft,  "  Virginia  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  Union." 

An  act  of  violence  now  occurred  in  Boston,  and  affairs 
hurried  to  a  climax.     As  a  clever  device  to  coax  or  bribe 

the  colonies  into  paying  the  tea  tax,  the  duty 
The  Boston        na(j  been  reduced  so  much  that  the  price  of  tea 

was  actually  less  than  in  England.  This  was 
said  to  be  the  "  king's  plan."  "  The  king  meant  to  try  the 
question  with  America."  Cargoes  of  tea  were  sent  to 
America,  and  three  ships  entered  Boston  harbor  (1773).  A 
mass  meeting  was  held.  Too  large  for  Faneuil  Hall,  it  ad- 
journed to  the  Old  South  Meeting  House,  and  there  it  was 
solemnly  resolved  that  the  tea  must  be  sent  back  to  Eng- 
land. But  the  authorities  refused  to  give  the  sailing 
papers.  On  the  evening  of  December  16th  a  body  of  men 
disguised  as  Indians  boarded  the  ships,  and,  breaking  open 
the  chests,  emptied  their  contents  into  the  sea. 

Boston  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet.     The  English 
people  were  outraged  by  this  action.     Fiery  speeches  were 

made  in  Parliament.  "  The  town  of  Boston," 
The  five  ^  one    «  0Uorht  to  be  knocked  about  their 

ears  and  destroyed."  Another  described  their 
acts  as  "  the  proceedings  of  a  tumultous  and  riotous  rabble, 
who  ought  ...  to  follow  their  mercantile  employments 
and  not  trouble  themselves  with  politics  and  government, 
which  they  do  not  understand."  In  this  spirit  five  acts 
were  passed,  some  of  them  at  least  in  violation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  English  Constitution.  The  first  act  was  the 
Boston  Port  Bill,  closing  the  port  of  Boston  until  the  tea 
was  paid  for  and  the  town  became  compliant  and  obedient ; 
Salem  was  made  the  seat  of  government.  The  second 
changed  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  in  many  important 
particulars,  chiefly  by  extending  the  power  of  the  Crown ; 
town  meetings,  except  for  electing  officers,  could  be  held 
only  by  the  governor's  permission.     The  third  act  provided 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  185 

that  if  any  person  were  accused  of  "  murther  or  other  capital 
crime,"  and  it  were  made  to  appear  that  "  the  fact  was  com- 
mitted in  the  execution  of  his  duty  as  a  magistrate,  for  the 
suppression  of  riots  "  or  in  support  of  the  laws,  the  accused 
should  be  taken  for  trial  to  some  place  outside  the  colony. 
This  seemed  to  the  Americans  to  encourage  officers  in 
shooting  down  the  people.  A  fourth  bill  provided  for 
quartering  troops  in  America.  A  fifth,  called  the  Quebec 
Act,  established  the  old  French  law  in  Canada,  sanctioned 
the  Catholic  religion  there,  and  extended  the  boundaries  of 
the  province  westward  and  southward  to  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio.  The  establishment  of  the  despotic  law  of  France, 
even  in  the  old  French  colony,  was  thought  by  the  Amer- 
icans to  be  a  menace  to  free  institutions  in  all  the  colonies. 
The  recognition  of  Eoman  Catholicism,  although  in  fact  it 
was  a  reasonable  act  of  toleration,  offended  the  New  Eng- 
enders and  seemed  to  threaten  their  chosen  faith.  More- 
over, Massachusetts  and  other  colonies  claimed,  under  their 
charters,  title  to  portions  of  this  western  land  thus  made 
part  of  Canada.  Such  were  the  five  "Intolerable  Acts." 
These  acts  were  passed  early  in  1774,  and  almost  at  once 
General  Gage,  commissioned  as  governor,  came  to  Boston 
with  additional  troops  to  see  that  the  laws  were  obeyed. 
Boston  harbor  was  closed. 

Again  all  the  colonies  were  alarmed.  Their  political 
theories  were  alike  ;  the  political  practices  of  all  had  made 
The  First  ^or  self-government.     Now,  spite  of  differences 

Continental  in  social  and  industrial  condition,  under  the 
Congress.  stress  of  a  common  danger  and  a  common  fear, 

a  new  people  was  born.  September  5,  1774,  a  Congress  met 
at  Philadelphia.  Delegates  were  present  from  all  the  col- 
onies save  Georgia,*  and  the  people  of  Georgia  were  known 

*  It  must  not  be  supposed  from  what  is  here  said  that  the  people  of 
Georgia  were  all  in  favor  of  opposition  to  Great  Britain.  Quite  the 
contrary.   There  were  many  "  Tories  "  there  who  continued  to  favor  the 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the  Congress.  It 
issued  a  "  Declaration  of  Rights."  This  declared  that  the 
people  of  the  colonies  were  "  entitled  to  life,  liberty,  and 
property,"  and  that  they  had  "  never  ceded  to  any  sovereign 
power  whatever  a  right  to  dispose  of  either  without  their 
consent."  It  further  asserted  that  the  colonists  were  en- 
titled to  the  rights  of  Englishmen,  and  that 

tfonSdeClara"  the  "  f oundation  of  English  liberty,  and  of  all 
free  government,  is  a  right  in  the  people  to 
participate  in  their  legislative  council ;  and  as  the  English 
colonists  are  not  represented,  and  from  their  local  and 
other  circumstances  can  not  be  properly  represented  in  the 
British  Parliament,  they  are  entitled  to  a  free  and  exclusive 
power  of  legislation  in  their  several  provincial  legislatures." 
They  consented,  out  of  regard  to  mutual  interest,  "  to  the 
operation  of  such  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  as  are  bona 
fide  restrained  to  the  regulation  of  our  external  commerce." 
This  was  a  reasonable  compromise.  The  colonies  had  now 
come  to  the  point  where  they  utterly  denied  the  authority 
of  the  British  Parliament  over  them ;  they  had  their  own 
parliaments;  but  for  mutual  interest  they  promised  to 
recognize  laws  passed  by  the  British  Parliament  that  were 
really  external  in  their  operation,  and  were  acts  of  real 
regulation  and  not  of  taxation. 

The  Congress  also  framed  Articles  of  Association,  where- 
in the  delegates  for  themselves  "  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
several  colonies  "  agreed  and  associated  "  under 
the  sacred  ties  of  Virtue,  Honor,  and  Love  of 
our  Country,"  not  to  import  into  America  any  goods  from 
Great  Britain,  products  from  the  British  West  Indies,  tea 
or  wines.  The  importation  of  slaves  was  to  cease  Decem- 
ber 1st.  Addresses  to  the  king,  to  the  people  of  the 
colonies,  to  the  people  of   Quebec,  and  to  the  people  of 

mother  country.    The  same  is  true  of  the  other  colonies.     In  America, 
as  to  some  extent  in  England,  this  was  a  party  question. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  187 

Great   Britain  were   adopted.      But   more  important   and 
fateful  than  all  these  addresses  was  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  "  That  this  Congress  approve  the  oppo- 
e  a     esses.     g^on  0f  the  inhabitants  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  to  the  execution  of  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament ;  and 
if  the  same  shall  be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution 
by  force,  in  such  case'  all  America  ought   to 
Congress  support  them  in  their  opposition."     This  could 

supports  Boston,         rr  .  . 

mean   but   one   thing — war  with   the   mother 
country  if  she  persisted. 

Trivial  offenses  on  the  part  of  government  can  not 
justify  revolution.  Only  oppression  or  serious  danger  can 
w     ,  justify  war.     It  can  not  be  said  that  the  people 

Revolution  of  the  colonies  had  actually  suffered  much, 
justifiable?  j^.  might  even  seem  that  the  mother  country 
was  not  at  all  tyrannical  in  taxing  the  colonies  to  pay  for 
defending  them.  How,  then,  can  the  war  that  followed  be 
justified?  The  Kevolution  was  justifiable  because  the 
colonists  stood  for  certain  fundamental  principles  that 
were  woven  into  the  very  fabric  of  their  lives.  They  were 
determined  that  no  one  should  take  money  from  them 
without  their  consent,  and  that  their  own  local  governments 
should  be  indeed  their  own  and  do  their  will.  They  carried 
to  a  legitimate  conclusion  the  true  political  principles  for 
which  the  English  people  had  fought  in  the  great  rebellion 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  They  had  a  keener  apprecia- 
tion of  liberty  than  any  other  people  in  the  world.  In 
England  a  designing  monarch  was  intent  upon  making 
himself  king  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  and  the  people 
seemed  lethargic  and  forgetful  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  English  liberty.  The  colonists,  on  the  other  hand, 
cherishing  the  rights  of  Englishmen,  demanded  the  sub- 
stance and  not  merely  the  forms  of  self-government.  Had 
these  self-reliant  people  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  been 
pliant  and  obedient  to  laws  they  considered  wrong  and 
tyrannical,  it  would  have  been  an  evil  day  for  popular  gov- 


188  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ernment.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  American  Revolu- 
tion was  conservative  or  preservative.  Such  it  surely  was ; 
but  it  did  more  than  save  the  principles  of  English  liberty : 
it  built  them  up  and  gave  them  a  logical  expression  in  the 
institutions  of  a  free  people  made  by  themselves  and 
changeable  at  their  own  discretion,  and  in  the  growth  of 
free  government  resting  on  the  people  not  only  in  America 
but  in  England. 

References. 

Short  accounts :  Charming,  United  States  of  America,  Chapter  II ; 
Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  III;  Hinsdale,  The 
American  Government,  pp.  52-63.  Longer  accounts  :  Fiske, 
The  American  Revolution,  Volume  I,  pp.  1-120 ;  Sloane,  The  French 
War  and  the  Revolution,  Chapters  X  to  XIV;  Hosmer,  Samuel 
Adams,  pp.  33-313;  Tyler,  Patrick  Henry,  pp.  32-135;  Morse,  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  pp.  99-202;  Hosmer,  The  Life  of  Thomas  Hutch- 
inson ;  Lecky,  The  American  Revolution,  17G3-1783. 


The  Boston  Massacre. 
From  an  etching  by  Paul  Revere. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Revolution— 1775-1783. 

During  the  winter  and  early  spring  of  1775,  although 
there  was  no  open  violence,  the  feeling  was  intense.  There 
B.      .    .  was  a  sympathetic  communication  from  colony 

the  beginning  to  colony.  Each  felt  the  danger  of  the  other, 
of  1775.  "We  must  fight!"  exclaimed   Henry  in  Vir- 

ginia; "an  appeal  to  the  God  of  hosts  is  all  that  is  left 
us."  Upon  the  anniversary  of  the  "  Massacre "  Joseph 
Warren  delivered  a  stirring  address  in  the  Old  South  Church 
in  Boston.  But  there  was  still  no  outburst  of  uncontrol- 
lable excitement.  There  seemed  to  be  a  determination  that 
the  first  blow  must  be  struck  by  the  British ;  for  the  war 
was  to  be  conservative  or  preservative  rather  than  destruc- 
tive. Boston  was  almost  in  a  state  of  siege ;  its  business 
was  thrown  into  much  disorder ;  there  were  cases  of  suffer- 
ing among  the  poor  and  the  unemployed.  The  sullen  per- 
sistence with  which  the  people  neither  fought  nor  relented 
suggested  that  when  war  was  once  begun  only  success 
would  end  it. 

The  New  Englanders,  under  the  lead  of  Massachusetts, 
were  taking  steps  to  bring  about  united  armed  resistance, 
T    .    ,        .     when  the  war  was  actually  precipitated  bv  the 

Lexington  and  «r  *         *  J 

Concord,  action  of  the  English  commander.      General 

April  19, 1775.  Gage  sent  a  detachment  to  destroy  stores  which 
the  Americans  had  gathered  at  Concord,  a  little  village 
some  twenty  miles  from  Boston.  The  movement  was  dis- 
covered, the  country  was  aroused,  and  when  the  advanced 
division  of  the  British  force  reached  Lexington  in  the  pale 

189 


190 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


gray  of  the  early  morning  they  found  a  squad  of  sturdy 
yeomen  drawn  up  defiantly  on  the  village  green.  Called 
upon  to  disperse,  they  refused ;  and  the  regulars  fired  into 


tffj?S 


A&mar^K    ~4< 0~i*4  tAj*- 


From  an  etching  by  Doolittle,  copied  from  a  drawing  made  by  Earle 
after  the  battle. 

the  little  company,  killing  seven  and  wounding  several 
others.  The  English  then  proceeded  to  Concord  and  de- 
stroyed the  stores.  Meanwhile  the  provincials  were  pour- 
ing in  from  the  surrounding  country,  and  the  British  force 
began  to  retire.  The  retreat  became  little  better  than  a 
headlong  flight.  Franklin,  in  his  humorous  fashion,  wrote 
to  a  friend  that  the  British  "  troops  made  a  most  vigorous 
retreat,  twenty  miles  in  three  hours — scarce  to  be  paralleled 
in  history — and  the  feeble  Americans,  who  pelted  them  all 
the  way,  could  scarce  keep  up  with  them."  The  news  of 
this  engagement  spread  like  wildfire.  Men  grasped  what- 
ever weapons  they  had  and  hastened  toward  Boston.  An 
army  was  soon  gathered  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and  the 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  191 

people  of  the  colonies  realized  that,  after  ten  years  of  excite- 
ment and  vexation,  war  was  at  last  begun. 

Early  in  May  Ticonderoga  was  taken  by  the  Americans. 
Crown  Point  fell  a  day  or  two  later.  The  capture  of  these 
fortresses  was  important,  because  the  British 
S^FaST*  were  considering  the  advisability  of  taking  the 
line  of  the  Hudson  and  cutting  off  from  the 
other  colonies  the  New  Englanders,  who  were  thought  to 
be  especially  disaffected  and  rebellious. 

The  second  Continental  Congress  met  May  10.  It  be- 
came the  central  government  of  the  nation,  and  continued 
to  be  so  for  six  years.  Washington  was  se- 
Oontinental  lected  commander  in  chief  of  the  "  Continen- 
Congress.  £aj  Army."     Preparations  were  made  for  the 

support  of  the  troops.  Washington  was  then  in  the  very 
prime  of  life — forty-three  years  of  age,  tall,  stalwart,  and 
strong.  His  experience  in  the  French  and  Indian  War-,  his 
undoubted  military  talents,  the  unqualified  respect  which 
all  felt  who  knew  him,  coupled  with  the  fact 
as  mgton.  ffogft  ^e  choice  of  a  Southern  general  was  the 
imperative  demand  of  common  sense,  made  his  selection 
the  only  possible  one.  It  was  a  fateful  moment  when  the 
question  was  under  consideration.  From  that  time  the 
Eevolution  rested  on  Washington's  shoulders.  Had  the 
task  fallen  to  any  other  man  the  war  would  probably  have 
been  a  failure ;  for  he  was  not  simply  a  great  man,  he  was 
a  great  general,  possessed  of  wonderful  judgment  and  self- 
control,  and  yet  capable  of  bold,  quick,  decisive  action. 
The  campaigns  of  the  Eevolution,  which  can  be  given  here 
only  in  outline,  prove  that  in  a  century  which  boasted  of 
some  of  the  greatest  commanders  in  history,  Washington 
won  deserved  renown  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  them  all. 

Meantime  the  Continental  Army  with  dogged  care  had 
been  drawing  the  lines  around  Boston.  Before  Washing- 
ton could  take  command  another  battle  had  been  fought. 
Gage  had  decided  to  take  an  advanced  position.     To  antici- 


192 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


pate  him,  and  to  secure,  if  possible,  a  point  commanding  the 

harbor,  on  the  evening  of  the  16th  of  June  a  force  of  twelve 

hundred  men  under  the  command  of  Colonel 

BunkerHm,       prescott  pushed  forward  from  the  American 

June  17, 1775.  r  .   . 

lines  and  took  up  a  position  on  Bunker  Hill,* 
an  eminence  on  the  Charlestown  promontory.  By  morn- 
ing, when  they  were  discovered  by  the  enemy,  an  embank- 
ment had  been  thrown  up,  and  the  continuous  bombard- 
ment from  the  English  men-of-war  was  of  no  avail  in 
driving  the  Americans  from  their  position.  General  Gage 
determined  to  assault  the  works.     The  world  knows  the 

result.  Beaten  back 
in  two  desperate  as- 
saults,  the  British 
finally  captured  the  re- 
doubt when  the  pro- 
vincials had  run  out 
of  ammunition.  It 
was  a  victory  dearly 
bought,  and  though 
the  Americans  were 
for  the  moment  over- 
come by  mortification, 
their  brave  resistance  to  disciplined  troops  was  of  great 
moral  effect. 

Congress  had  appointed  a  number  of  generals  *nd  other 
officers  at  the  same  time  that  Washington  was  made  com- 
mander in  chief.  In  addition  to  these  warlike  preparations, 
they  sent  one  last  petition  to  the  king  asking  for  a  redress 
of  grievances,  and  they  also  issued  a  declaration  of  the 
causes  of  taking  up  arms.  The  petition,  of  course,  had  no 
effect  upon  obdurate  George  III,  who,  on  the  contrary, 
issued  a  proclamation  against  the  American  traitors,  and 


*  Breed's  Hill,  where  the  battle  was  fought,  was  in  reality  an  exten- 
sion of  Bunker  Hill,  and  connected  with  it  by  a  ridge. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783. 


193 


proceeded  to  hire  foreign  troops  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 
Some  twenty  thousand  men  were  employed  as  mercenaries 
against  the  people  in  America,  who  were  risking  their  lives 
for  self-government  and  the  rights  of  Englishmen. 

Washington  took  command  of  the  Continental  Army  in 
July.  His  task  was  a  difficult  one.  The  army  was  undis- 
Boston  ciplined,   unorganized.      The   men   had   come 

evacuated,  hurriedly  together  on  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 

arc  ,1776^  ment5  and  lacked  nearly  everything  needful  for 
the  long  task  that  awaited  them.  Slowly,  as  the  year  went 
by,  Washington  made  out  of  the  raw  militia  an  army.  The 
lines  were  drawn  more  closely  around  Boston,  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  following  spring  (1776)  entrenchments 
were  thrown  up  on  Dorchester  Heights  overlooking  the 
city.  Bunker  Hill  had  taught  its  lesson,  and  General 
Howe,  who  was  now  in  command  of  the  British  forces, 
evacuated  the  city  (March  17,  177G). 

While  the  main  body  of  the  army  was  engaged  about 
Boston  a  daring   attempt  had  been   made  upon   Canada. 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Eichard  Montgomery,  with  a  force  of  about  two  thousand 
men,  made  his  way  north  by  the  Lake  Champlain  route  and 
Attempt  to  ^°°k  possession  of  Montreal.  Meanwhile  Col- 
take  Quebec,       onel  Benedict  Arnold  was  endeavoring  to  push 

directly  north  through  the  woods  of  Maine, 
hoping  to  join  Montgomery  in  an  attack  upon  Quebec. 
The  two  forces,  small  enough  at  the  best,  were  united  early 
in  December,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  made  a 
daring  night  attack  upon  the  walled  city.  Montgomery 
was  killed,  Arnold  was  sorely  wounded,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
fiercest  courage,  the  assault  was  unsuccessful.  The  Amer- 
icans withdrew.  Canada  remained  in  the  possession  of 
England. 

The  early  part  of  1776  was  full  of  encouragement.  The 
Virginians,  fully  aroused  to  hostility  by  the  conduct  of 
Situation  in  their  royal  governor,  were  quite  ready  for  de- 
early  part  of       cisive  action.     In  North  Carolina  the  Scottish 

royalists  were  badly  beaten,*  and  the  other 
colonies  rapidly  swung  into  line  in  favor  of  complete  sepa- 
ration from  the  mother  country.  The  sentiment  of  inde- 
pendence had  developed  with  a  slowness  that  seems  remark- 
able when  one  considers  that  already  war  had  been  in 
progress  a  year  or  more.  It  only  shows  again  that  the 
Revolution  was  a  cautious,  well-considered,  conservative 
matter,  and  not  the  result  of  hot-headed  rebellion. 

On  June  7th  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  offered  in 
Congress  the  resolution  "  That  these  United  Colonies  are, 

and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent 
£o>p^W     States."     The  debates  were  vigorous.     It  was 

in  connection  with  this  debate  and  the  repeated 
appeals  for  unanimity  that  Franklin  perpetrated  his  fa- 
mous witticism,  "  Yes,  we  must  indeed  all  hang  together, 
or  assuredly  we  shall  all  hang  separately."  No  doubt  the 
thought  thus  humorously  expressed  had  its  influence  for 

*  Moore's  Creek,  February,  1776. 


196  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

harmony.  The  middle  colonies,  as  yet  unmolested  and  not 
feeling  full  sympathy  with  their  Northern  brethren,  were 
inclined  to  hold  back.  But  the  people  on  the  whole  were 
found  to  be  ready  for  the  step.  July  2,  1776,  the  resolution 
was  adopted,  and  two  days  later  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, drawn  by  Thomas  Jefferson,*  was  adopted,  stat- 
ing the  reasons  and  the  justification  of  the  act. 

This  declaration  deserves  careful  study.  The  language 
is  so  well  chosen  and  so  dignified,  its  phrases  are  so  har- 
monious, that  it  must  always  stand  as  a  great  piece  of  liter- 
ature. It  embodies,  too,  a  distinct  statement  of  grievances  ; 
and,  moreover,  lays  down  the  fundamental  principle  of 
democratic  government — that  all  men  are  created  equal, 
and  that  each  man  has  the  inalienable  right  to  pursue  hap- 
piness. 

The  people  thus  announced  that  they  constituted  an  in- 
dependent nation ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  colonies  were 
transformed  into  States,  and  steps  were  taken  toward  an 
organization  suitable  to  the  new  situation.  We  should  not 
lose  sight  of  this  phase  of  the  Revolution — the  transforma- 
tion of  colonies  into  States,  the  peaceable  organization  of 
commonwealths,  the  drafting  of  constitutions,  the  organiza- 
tion of  local  governments.  But  the  changes  were  not 
marked ;  there  was  little  or  no  destruction  of  the  institutions 
that  were  the  results  of  colonial  growth.  Two  of  the  States, 
Ehode  Island  and  Connecticut,  went  on  under  their  old 
charters.  The  new  constitutions  were  founded  on  the  peo- 
ple, and  recognized  the  ultimate  political  authority  of  the 
people.  This  is  a  great  fact  in  human  history:  govern- 
ments were  no  longer  to  be  the  source  of  power,  but  the 
agents  and  the  servants  of  the  real  governors,  the  people. 

*  See  Morse's  Jefferson,  pp.  32-40.  On  July  5  some  copies  were 
printed  and  issued.  Not  till  August  2  was  the  engrossed  copy  signed 
by  the  delegates.  See  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  vol.  vi, 
p.  208.  One  member  did  not  sign  till  November,  1770,  and  another  not 
till  1781. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  197 

Such  is  the  American  idea;  that  is  the  principle  which 
American  colonial  history  had  brought  forth. 

While  the  Congress  was  still  hesitating  over  the  desira- 
bility of  independence,  a  sharp  battle  was  fought  in  the 
South.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  sailed  from 
Fort  Moultrie,  Boston  for  the  Southern  colonies  in  the  middle 
June,  1776.  0f  the  winter.  He  cruised  about  waiting  for 
re-enforcements,  and  not  till  June  did  he  feel  justified  in 
attacking  Charleston.  The  Americans,  under  the  direction 
of  Colonel  Moultrie,  had  thrown  together  a  rude  fort  of 
palmetto  logs  and  sand  on  Sullivan's  Island,  in  the  harbor. 
Rough  and  weak  as  these  defenses  seemed,  they  proved  suf- 
ficient. The  brisk  bombardment  from  the  British  had  no 
effect ;  but  the  guns  of  the  fort,  aimed  with  precision  and 
care,  did  such  execution  among  the  vessels  that  Clinton 
thought  better  of  his  purpose,  and  sailed  away  to  the  north 
to  co-operate  with  General  Howe,  who  was  preparing  to 
attack  New  York.  The  Carolinas  were  for  some  time  left 
free  from  molestation. 

From  both  a  military  and  a  political  point  of  view  the 

city  of  New  York  and  the  line  of  the  Hudson  were  of  great 

importance.     New  York  had  a  large  number 

British  prepare  *  _   j, 

to  attack  New  of  British  sympathizers,  and  there  was  some 
Yorkl  chance  that  through  them  the  colony  might  be 

won  for  the  king.  The  Hudson  valley,  if  securely  held, 
would  separate  the  ever-active  New  Englanders  from  their 
less  vehement  brethren  of  the  Middle  States.  Washington 
anticipated  the  desire  of  Howe  to  get  possession  of  the  city 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson.  He  moved  his  troops  from 
Boston  to  New  York  in  April.  His  army  was  small  and 
very  poorly  equipped,  while  New  York  was  a  place  very 
difficult  to  defend.  He  made  the  best  of  the  situation, 
holding  the  city,  and  stationing  a  strong  detachment  on 
Brooklyn  Heights,  an  eminence  which  must  be  held  if  the 
city  were  to  be  retained. 

An  English  fleet  with  troops  on  board  arrived  at  Staten 


198 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


NEW   YORK 

AND  VICINITY 

1776 


Island  in  July.      The   army  was  commanded  by  General 
William  Howe.     His  brother  Richard,  Lord  Howe,  was  in 
command  of  the  fleet.     The  latter  was  charged 
Efforts  at  yrith.  the  task  of  making  offers  of  conciliation 

and  pardon.  But  he  could  accomplish  noth- 
ing. Washington  said  there  could  be  no  pardon  where 
there  was  no  guilt;   and  when  the  proposals  were  made 

known  to  Congress, 
Governor  Trumbull, 
of  Connecticut,  re- 
marked :  "  No  doubt 
we  all  need  pardon 
from  Heaven  ;  but 
the  American  who 
needs  the  pardon  of 
his  Britannic  Majesty 
is  yet  to  be  found." 
It  was  clearly  too 
late  to  treat  with  the 
Americans  as  rebel- 
lious British  subjects. 
As  we  have  seen, 
Washington  had  post- 
ed a  portion  of  his 
troops  on  Brooklyn 
Heights,  hoping  to 
hold  the  position. 
This  was  a  difficult  undertaking.  The  English  outnum- 
bered the  Americans,  and,  moreover,  could  strike  where 
B  ttl  fL  ^ev  chose,  while  Washington  must  divide  his 
Island,  August,  forces  to  meet  the  enemy  at  various  places. 
1776.  Howe  decided  to  attack  the  troops  on  Long 

Island,  and  was  successful  in  the  battle.  Many  Ameri- 
cans were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  remainder  of  the  army 
was  in  a  critical  situation.  They  were  hemmed  in  and 
in  danger  of  being  captured  to  a  man.     Washington  now 


iTLANTIC      OCEAN 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  199 

executed  one  of  the  most  brilliant  maneuvers  of  the  war. 
During  the  night  the  whole  force  was  ferried  silently  and 
stealthily  across  the  East  River  to  New  York,  leaving  the 
British  in  possession  of  empty  earthworks  and  a  barren 
victory. 

Driven  from  New  York  city,  Washington  skillfully  re- 
treated with  his  discouraged  army.     Late  in  October  the 
battle  of  White  Plains  was  fought.     The  Eng- 

Retreat  across 

New  Jersey,  lish  were  on  the  whole  successful,  for  the 
autumn,  1776.  Americans  were  obliged  to  retreat.  Howe  did 
not  follow  up  his  advantage,  however,  but  turned  aside  to 
attack  Fort  Washington,  the  plans  of  which  had  been  put 
into  his  hands  by  an  American  officer.  The  fort  was  taken, 
and  Fort  Lee,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  was  at  once 
evacuated.  These  two  defenses  had  been  built  with  the 
hope  that  they  could  keep  the  English  fleet  from  sailing  up 
the  river.  Washington  now  withdrew  into  New  Jersey,  and 
the  dreary,  disheartening  retreat  began.  The  American 
army  was  daily  dwindling,  for  the  soldiers  lost  heart  when 
they  were  not  victorious.  In  the  early  winter  the  little 
army  of  three  thousand  men  crossed  the  Delaware  into 
Pennsylvania.  Had  Howe  then  made  a  rapid  march  to 
Philadelphia  it  would  surely  have  been  taken,  and  the 
moral  effect  would  have  been  so  great  that  all  hopes  of  re- 
sistance might  perhaps  have  been  abandoned ;  the  Revolu- 
tion might  have  been  a  failure.  But  Howe,  pluming  him- 
self upon  his  success,  left  his  troops  under  the  command  of 
General  Cornwallis,  so  as  to  guard  Washington  completely, 
as  he  thought,  and  went  back  to  New  York  to  hear 
praises  of  his  victories  and  enjoy  the  gayeties  of  the  holiday 
season. 

But  Washington  was  not  yet  beaten,  nor  utterly  dis- 
couraged. A  few  re-enforcements  came  to  him.  He  made 
up  his  mind  to  strike.  Crossing  the  Delaware  Christmas 
night,  1776,  he  surprised  a  company  of  Hessians  at  Tren- 
ton, and  took  a  thousand  prisoners  and  a  thousand  stands 
14 


200  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

of  arms.  He  retreated  into  Pennsylvania,  and  then  once 
more  crossed  back  into  New  Jersey,  where  by  a  series  of 
brilliant  movements  he  completely  outgener- 
Pri^ton^e-  aled  Cornwallis,  who  was  perhaps  the  most 
cember,  1776,      competent  commander  on  the  English  side  dur- 

January,  1777.     ing  ^  w>      ^  ^  ^^  Qf  princeton  Wash. 

ington  defeated  the  enemy,  and  then,  though  not  daring 
with  his  small  force  to  push  ahead  and  capture  their  stores, 
he  practically  held  New  Jersey  by  taking  the  heights  at 
Morristown.  Thus  in  midwinter  was  fought  an  important 
campaign.  The  losses  of  the  summer  were  in  part  re- 
trieved. The  American  general  showed  a  combination  of 
caution  with  boldness  and  skill  in  strategy  that  marked 
him  a  general  of  the  first  rank.  Frederick  the  Great,  him- 
self a  master  in  the  art  of  war,  is  said  to  have  declared  that 
this  was  the  most  brilliant  campaign  of  the  century. 

The  experiences  of  this  year  of  active  warfare  taught 
their  evident  lessons.     It  was  plain  that  the  struggle  was 
not  to  be  finished  in  a  moment,  that  it  was  likely  to  be  long 
and  desperate,  and  that   something  must  be 
Renewed  done  f-0  provide  a  suitable  army,  one  with  some 

prepan  degree  of  permanence,  and  not  made  up  of 

militia  that  would  melt  away  in  the  day  of  trial  and  dis- 
couragement. Washington  was  clothed  with  almost  dicta- 
torial authority,  but  of  course  used  his  power  with  con- 
sideration.* To  get  together  a  considerable  body  of  men 
well  equipped  and  bound  to  serve  for  the  war  proved 
an  enormous  task.  Throughout  the  winter  Washington 
labored  faithfully ;  but  by  the  opening  of  spring  his  force 

*  In  speaking  of  Washington's  success  at  Trenton  and  Princeton, 
one  ought  not  to  forget  Robert  Morris,  whose  generosity  and  exertions 
to  raise  money  made  these  victories  possible.  His  executive  ability 
was  of  great  service  to  his  country.  He  raised  money  on  his  own 
credit  to  aid  Washington.  "  During  December  and  January  he  may  be 
said  to  have  carried  on  all  the  work  of  the  continent."  (Sumner's 
Robert  Morris,  p.  17.) 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783. 


201 


W>Sfc/ 


was  still  small,  and  only  by  the  most  careful  strategy  and 
waiting  could  he  hope  to  accomplish  anything  against 
his  powerful  opponent. 

The  enemy  were  at  New 

York  and  in  eastern  New 

Jersey.        The 

The  military       American  line 

situation.  ., 

ran  from  the 
Hudson  southwestward  to 
Morristown,  and  on  to 
Princeton.  Thus  the  open- 
ing of  the  campaign  of  1777 
saw  the  Americans  still 
steadfast  and  hopeful,  for, 
spite  of  the  victories  of  the 
summer  before,  Howe  was 
hardly  further  ahead  than  he  was  just  after  the  battle  of 
Long  Island. 

The  English  Government  now  prepared  to  take  a  firm 

hold  upon  the  country.     They  determined  to  get  control  of 

the  Hudson  Eiver,  and  thus  cut  off  New  Eng- 

Attack  upon  the  iana  from  fae  Middle  States.  General  Bur- 
center,  1777. 

goyne  was  to  march  down  from  Canada,  and 

Howe  was  to  go  north  and  meet  him.  Another  force  under 
St.  Leger  was  to  go  up  Lake  Ontario  to  Oswego,  take  Fort 
Stanwix,  and  come  down  the  Mohawk  Valley.  By  some  ac- 
cident Howe  seems  not  to  have  been  ordered  by  the  home 
Government  to  proceed  with  his  troops  up  the  Hudson ;  but 
he  ought  to  have  known  enough  to  go  without  explicit 
orders.  Burgoyne  began  his  southward  march  in  June. 
We  can  not  trace  his  course  in  detail  nor  see  all  the  difn- 
Burffoyne  culties  that  beset  him.     At  first  he  was  suc- 

marches  south  cessf ul.  Ticonderoga  was  taken,  and  the  news 
from  Canada,      of  hig  victory  filled  England  with  glee  and 

Burgoyne  with  undue  vainglory.  But  soon  the  danger  of 
marching  into  an  enemy's  country  began  to  be  made  more 


THE  REVOLUTION 

IN  THE 

MIDDLE   STATES         -Q 

o        * 


THE  REVOLUTION-1775-1783.  203 

clear  to  him.  An  American  army  was  in  front,  and  the 
militia  were  gathering  behind  him.  He  sent  a  detachment 
to  Bennington,  in  what  is  now  Vermont,  to  seize  supplies ; 
but  the  militia,  under  the  command  of  doughty  John  Stark, 
simply  annihilated  the  whole  force.  Aroused  by  this  suc- 
cess, the  country  rose  to  check  the  invader,  and  it  was  soon 
apparent  to  Burgoyne  that  he  was  in  a  tight  place.  His 
army  was  growing  weaker.  He  was  compelled  to  fight  or 
starve.  But  he  was  defeated  in  the  engagements  which 
he  risked.  His  supplies  were  cut  off,  and  while  the  Amer- 
ican army  grew  stronger,  his  own  grew  constantly  weaker. 
,         He  retreated  to  Saratoga,  and  there,  surround- 

and  surrenders  -i  • 

at  Saratoga,  ed,  baffled,  beset,  he  surrendered  at  discretion. 
October,  1777.  Burgoyne's  defeat  was  inevitable,  inasmuch  as 
Howe  had  not  gone  north  to  co-operate  with  him.  Gates, 
the  American  commander,  was  devoid  of  genius,  talent, 
or  character.  His  conduct  of  the  campaign  was  free  from 
all  merit,  save  that  his  very  failure  to  act  gave  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  enemy  to  be  slowly  weakened  and  over- 
come. 

Meanwhile  St.  Leger  had  met  with  discomfiture.  In  a 
fierce  battle  at  Oriskany,  the  bloodiest  contest  of  the  war,  a 
detachment  of  Tories  aided  by  Indians  was 
defeateiTat  S°  defeated  by  a  band  of  Americans  under  the 
Oriskany,  brave  old   General  Herkimer.      Fort  Stanwix 

ngus '  '  could  not  be  taken,  and  finally,  upon  the  ad- 
vance of  an  army  under  Arnold,  the  British  fled  precipi- 
tately. 

Let  us  now  turn  southward  and  see  what  became  of 
Howe.  Washington  expected  to  see  him  move  northward  ; 
„     ,  but  he  did  not.     He  seemed  to  be  infatuated 

no  we  s 

expedition  to  with  the  idea  of  taking  Philadelphia.  He  pre- 
Philadeiphia.  pared  to  march  across  New  Jersey  ;  but  Wash- 
ington, perceiving  his  purpose,  blocked  him  and  worried 
him  by  superior  strategy.  Then  Howe  determined  to  sail 
for  the  "  rebel  capital."     In  August  he  appeared  in  Chesa- 


204  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

peake  Bay,  and  began  to  advance  upon  Philadelphia.*  A 
battle  was  fought  at  Brandywine  Creek,  and  the  Americans, 
B  tti  of  sorely  outnumbered,  were  beaten.     Washington 

Brandywine,  brought  his  troops  off  in  clever  fashion,  and 
Sept.,  1777.  ^e  ^ay  after  the  battle  he  had  his  army 
organized  and  ready  to  fight  again.  The  British  entered 
Philadelphia.  Even  now  the  heart  of  the  American  com- 
mander did  not  fail  him.     He  determined  to  surprise  the 

enemy  at  Germantown,  and  he  mapped  out  a 
Germantown,       pjan  0f  0perations  which,  if  successful,  would 

have  overwhelmed  them.  An  attack  was  made 
in  the  early  morning  and  was  almost  a  success ;  but  two 
advancing  divisions  lost  their  way  in  a  dense  fog,  and  one 
fired  upon  the  other  thinking  it  was  the  enemy.  So  the 
surprise  was  a  failure. 

And  yet  it  was  not  a  failure.  It  disclosed  to  the  think- 
ing men  of  America  and  to  the  onlookers  in  Europe  the 
Effect  of  daring  generalship  of  the  man  who  thus  in  the 

campaign  face  of  defeat  ventured  to  plan  a  bold  assault 

on  Europe.  ^[th  intent  not  simply  to  annoy  but  to  crush 

the  army  that  had  beaten  him.  European  statesmen 
and  monarchs,  who  were  watching  the  "rebellion"  with 
utmost  care,  saw  that  the  colonists  could  fight  with  great 
courage  in  the  midst  of  defeat,  and  that  the  capture  of  the 
capital  by  no  means  meant  that  the  war  was  over. 

For  some  time  Benjamin  Franklin  had  been  at  Paris  as 
a  commissioner  from  the   United   States,  and  had  been 

working  in  his  quiet,  shrewd  way  to  bring 
j^eJ^eench         France  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the 

United  States  and  take  part  in  the  war.  This 
France  was  not  loath  to  do.  She  was  still  smarting  under 
her  defeat  in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  was  longing  for 
revenge  for  the  loss  of  Canada.  After  the  defeat  of  Bur- 
goyne   it   was   apparent    that    the   Kevolution    had   good 

*  He  landed  his  troops  at  Elkton. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  205 

chances  of  success.  France  then  made  a  treaty  of  alliance 
with  the  United  States  (February,  1778).*  In  a  short  time 
Spain  and  Holland  too  were  drawn,  for  their  own  reasons, 
into  the  war  against  Great  Britain.  Even  before  the 
French  treaty  a  number  of  Frenchmen  came  over  to  help 
in  what  they  considered  a  struggle  for  liberty.  Chief 
among  them  was  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  Other  foreigners 
came  also,  and  one,  Baron  Steuben,  a  German,  was  of  great 
service  in  organizing  and  drilling  the  American  troops. 

This  winter,  that  brought  the  happy  news  of  foreign  aid, 
was  a  winter  of  suffering  for  the  American  army.    It  passed 

the  dreary  months  at  Valley  Forge  in  destitu- 
Jjjjy^6'     tion.     Washington  did  not  leave  his  men  and 

go  home  to  live  in  luxury,  but  stayed  to  endure 
privation  with  them.  Only  he  who  reads  his  letters  written 
during  these  trying  times  can  appreciate  his  troubles  and 
anxieties.  The  worst  of  it  all  was,  that  the  nation  was  not 
poverty  stricken.  The  war  had  brought  some  hardships  to 
the  people,  but  the  country  had  plenty  of  clothing  and 
shoes  and  beef  and  flour.  Why  did  the  army  not  have 
them  ?    In  the  first  place,  because  the  General  Government 

was   inefficient.      Congress   had   no   power  to 

&££££.  leyy taxes-  Tt  could  ask  for  money' but  not 

demand  it.  It  was  not  well  organized  to  act 
as  a  government,  being  in  essence  a  convention  of  dele- 
gates. There  was  no  proper  executive  authority  and  no 
judiciary,  and  a  large  body  of  men  gathered  together  from 

*  The  end  of  the  alliance  was  asserted  to  be  to  maintain  the  liberty, 
sovereignty,  and  independence  of  the  United  States,  "  as  well  in  matters 
of  government  as  of  commerce."  The  United  States  guaranteed  to 
France  its  "  present  possessions  "  in  America,  and  all  that  it  might  ac- 
quire by  the  war ;  France,  in  its  turn,  guaranteed  the  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States,  and  all  their  possessions,  "and  the 
addition  or  conquests  that  their  confederation  may  obtain  during  the 
war."  At  the  same  time  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  was  agreed 
upon. 


206  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

different  parts  of  the  country  was,  of  course,  singularly  in- 
capable  of  conducting  a  war  with  wisdom  and  economy. 
The  executive  work  was  first  done  by  committees,  and 
afterward  these  committees  became  executive  boards.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  war  experience  proved  the  desirability 
of  having  a  single  man  in  charge  of  each  distinct  depart- 
ment of  executive  work.  But  it  was  1781  before  the  step 
was  taken;  then  a  Superintendent  of  Finance  was  ap- 
pointed, and  a  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

In  addition  to  the  fact  that  the  Government  was  not 
properly  organized,  there  were  other  reasons  for  folly  and 
inefficiency.  Some  of  the  members  of  Congress  seem  to 
have  loved  the  intrigues  of  politics  more  than  the  work  of 
providing  for  the  army  and  holding  up  the  hands  of  its 
great  leader.  Moreover,  there  were  jealousies  and  rivalries 
between  the  different  States.  The  course  of  colonial  his- 
tory had  taught  the  people  to  cherish  their  local  govern- 
ments and  to  repel  any  sort  of  dictation  from  without. 
Now  the  people  were  a  nation,  and  all  the  States  had  a 
common  interest ;  but  real  national  patriotism  and  fervid 
devotion  to  a  central  government  could  come  only  as  the 
growth  of  years.  In  November,  1777,  Congress  proposed  to 
the  States  for  adoption  Articles  of  Confederation.  These 
were  not  adopted  by  all  the  States  for  some  time,  and  did 
not  go  into  effect  until  1781. 

In  the  summer  (1778)  English  commissioners  arrived  in 
Philadelphia  offering  terms  of  conciliation.  All  proposals 
Beginning  of  were  rejected.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  succeeded 
campaign  of  Howe,  and  Philadelphia  was  evacuated.  The 
1778,  English   army   began    its   march   across   New 

Jersey  to  New  York.  Washington  followed.  He  attacked 
the  enemy  at  Monmouth,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
dastardly  conduct  of  General  Charles  Lee,  who  disobeyed 
orders  and  beat  a  shameful  retreat,  a  complete  victory  for 
the  Americans  would  probably  have  resulted.  As  it  was, 
the  British,  much  discomfited,  withdrew  in  the  night. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  207 

The  rest  of  this  campaign  of  1778  contains  no  startling 
successes  or  reverses.  A  French  fleet  appeared,  but  ac- 
complished nothing.  In  Pennsylvania  there 
other  events  occurred  the  dreadful  massacre  of  Wyoming. 
The  Indians,  who  had  been  won  to  the  British 
side  of  the  controversy,  attacked  the  exposed  settlements 
of  the  Wyoming  Valley  in  northern  Pennsylvania  and 
Cherry  Valley  in  New  York.  Houses  were  pillaged  and 
burned;  men,  women,  and  children  were  ruthlessly  slain. 
An  American  army  under  General  Sullivan  was  sent  to 
punish  the  savages,  and  it  accomplished  the  welcome  task 
with  thoroughness.  Many  of  the  red  men  were  killed  in 
battle,  villages  were  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  wide- 
spreading  cornfields  of  the  Iroquois  were  devastated. 

In  the  meantime  events  of  more  than  trivial  importance 
were  happening  in  the  far  West.  George  Rogers  Clark,  a 
War  in  the  voung  Virginian,  marched  into  the  country 
West,  north  of  the  Ohio  and  took  possession  of  it 

1778-79.  (1778).     The  British  commander  in  the  West 

was  captured  (February,  1779),  and  Detroit  was  the  only 
important  position  which  did  not  pass  into  our  hands. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  (1779)  Washington  was  ex- 
ceedingly desirous  of  retaking  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson, 
Captnreof  a  very  imPortant  position,  which  the  British 

Stony  Point,  had  forced  the  Americans  to  evacuate  early  in 
Jnly  16, 1779.  June>  The  attack  was  jntrusted  to  General 
Wayne,  and  under  his  direction  the  Americans  surprised 
the  garrison  and  captured  the  defenses,  taking  over  five 
hundred  prisoners. 

Cheering  news  came  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  John 
Paul  Jones,  a  hardy  Scotcli  sailor,  who  had  lived  for  some 
years  in  Virginia,  had  been  harrying  the  coast 
Jones.  a  of  England  for  some  time.     In  the  summer  of 

1779  he  had  charge  of  a  small  fleet  which,  with 
the  utmost  audacity,  hung  off  the  eastern  coast  of  England 
and  Scotland,  threatening  destruction  to  exposed  places. 


208  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

In  the  autumn  occurred  the  great  duel  between  the  English 
frigate  Serapis  and  Jones's  flagship  the  Bon  Homme  Rich- 
ard. It  was  one  of  the  bloodiest  naval  fights 
Septemher,  in  history.  The  American  vessel  was  victo- 
rious. Jones  was  the  hero  of  Europe.  "  His 
exploit  was  told  and  told  again  in  the  gazettes  and  at  the 
drinking  tables  on  the  street  corners." 

The  winter  of  1779-'80  was  a  gloomy  one  in  America. 
The  Northern  army  wintered  at  Morristown,  where  the 
suffering  was  very  great.  Washington  wrote 
MoirisSwn,  (January  8,  1780) :  "  The  present  situation  of 
i779-'80.  ^he  armv,  with  respect  to  provisions,  is  the  most 

distressing  of  any  we  have  experienced  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  For  a  fortnight  past  the  troops,  both  officers 
and  men,  have  been  perishing  for  want.  They  have  been 
alternately  without  bread  or  meat  the  whole  time ;  .  .  .  fre- 
quently destitute  of  both."  * 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  (1778)  the  British  turned 
their  attention  to  the  Southern  States.  Savannah  was  taken. 
Through  the  summer  of  1779  little  happened  there  to  give 
the  patriots  heart.  In  the  spring  Lincoln  was  obliged  to 
surrender  Charleston  to  Clinton.  Cornwallis  took  command 
^    .  of  the  British  forces  in  the  South  and  entered 

War  in 

the  South,  on  a  vigorous  campaign.    Washington  remained 

i779-'80.  jn  tjie  North  to  watch  the  central  post  of  dan- 

ger— New  York  and  the  Hudson.     Gates,  who  was  sent  to 
confront  Cornwallis,  began  a  career  of  incompetence,  if  not 
stupidity.     The  patriots  of  the  Carolinas  had 

Camden,  arisen  under  such  able  leaders  as  Marion  and 

August,  1780. 

Sumter,  and  were  fighting  valiantly  against  the 

invader.     On  the  16th   of  August  Gates  was  disastrously 

defeated  in  the   battle  of  Camden.     He   did  not  wait  to 


*  See  Ford's  Writings  of  George  Washington,  vol.  iii,  pp.  155-161, 
etc.  Those  who  have  access  to  Washington's  writings  will  find  them 
full  of  interest. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783. 


209 


make  an  orderly  retreat,  but,  leaving  his  army  behind  him, 
fled  two  hundred  miles  in  three  and  a  half  days.  Thus 
was  put  to  the  test  the  valor  and  skill  of  the  man  who  had 
been  plotting  to   succeed  Washington,  and  whose  talent 


■#':-*fC  AXRiOU 

!>r;ui_v 


v  '..-;'•;.■  \tf'  Uranireburir      ^+      Xi^,.      14 


^neaufort 
_jj  Port  Jioyal    . 


THE  REVOLUTION 

IN 

THE  SOUTH 


King's 

Mountain, 
October,  1780, 


was  highly  valued  by  many  of  the  malcontents  in  Congress 
and  the  country.  Some  light  now  comes  in  the  midst  of  this 
gloom  and  despondency.  In  October,  a  body  of 
English  and  Tories  was  beaten  by  a  force  of 
mountaineers  and  backwoodsmen  in  the  battle 
of  King's  Mountain.  This  was  one  of  the  famous  victories 
of  the  war.  The  British  force  was  utterly  defeated  by  an 
undisciplined  force  of  "  embattled  farmers  "  who  showed 
the  energy,  zeal,  and  bravery  of  the  frontier.* 

While  these  events  were  happening  at  the  South  the 
Americans  narrowly  escaped  a  severe  disaster  at  the  North. 

*  Read  Roosevelt,  The  Winning  of  the  West,  vol.  ii,  pp.  241-295.    A 
very  interesting  book. 


210  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Benedict  Arnold,  one  of  the  best  fighters  on  the  American 

side,  disgusted  and  disheartened  at  his  treatment  by  the 

American  Congress,  in  a  fit  of  envy  and  spite, 

f"^1'....      entered  into  a  plot  to  surrender  West  Point 

treason,  1780.  x 

to  the  enemy.  But  the  British  messenger, 
Major  Andre,  returning  from  an  interview  with  Arnold, 
was  captured  and  the  plot  discovered.  Andre  was  hanged 
as  a  spy.  Arnold  escaped  to  the  enemy's  lines,  to  reap  his 
rewards  of  office  and  money  from  the  English  Government. 
At  the  beginning  of  1781  no  one  would  have  dared  to 
presage  great  victory  for  the  American  cause,  or  to  expect 

the  speedy  close  of  the  war.  The  English  still 
Beginning  of      held  New  York ;  in  the  South,  where  Cornwal- 

1/O.Li  . 

lis  was  m  command,  there  seemed  little  hope 
of  anything  like  immediate  success  for  the  patriot  army. 
Washington,  with  praiseworthy  self-control,  remained  in  the 
North  to  guard  against  attack,  and  Greene  took  command 
of  the  troops  in  the  South.  Greene  soon  showed  the  quali- 
ties of  a  first-rate  general,  and  proved  that  among  the  Amer- 
ican officers  he  was  second  to  Washington  alone.  Corn- 
wallis  was  brilliant  and  daring,  but  was  at  first  overconfi- 
dent and  then  desperate.    He  pressed  vigorously  northward. 

A  detachment  was  overwhelmed  by  the  Amer- 

JaXny,'  1781.  icans  at  the  battle  of  the  c°wpens.  The  Brit- 
ish still  pushed  on  to  the  North.  Greene  fell 
steadily  back,  hoping  to  lead  Cornwallis  into  a  place  whence 
he  could  not  escape.  In  March  was  fought  the  battle  of 
Guilford  Court  Gmlforcl  Court  House.  The  English  were  on 
House,  March,  the  whole  victorious,  but  too  much  weakened 
!78l.  to   go   farther.     Cornwallis   retreated   to  Wil- 

mington, and  seemed  for  the  time  to  have  abandoned  his 
northward  movement.  Greene  at  first  pursued  the  enemy; 
then,  turning  abruptly,  marched  south  into  South  Carolina. 
By  the  autumn  the  British  forces  in  that  State  were  shut 
up  in  Charleston,  and  the  rest  of  the  State  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Americans. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783. 


211 


situation  111 
1781. 


Cornwallis  was  puzzled  by  Greene's  action.  He  decided, 
however,  not  to  pursue  him,  but  to  go  on  to  the  North.  He 
The  general  marched  into  Virginia.  There  he  was  baffled 
by  Lafayette.  "  The  boy  can  not  escape  me," 
he  said ;  but  the  young  Frenchman,  then  only 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  was  wary  and  cautious,  and  Corn- 
wallis could  not  trap  him.  The  situation,  then,  in  the 
summer  of  1781  was  this : 
Washington  was  at  the 
North,  planning  an  at- 
tack upon  New  York  city, 
which  had  been  held  since 
August  of  1776  by  the 
British;  but  he  was  fur- 
tively watching  Virginia. 
Greene  was  in  South  Car- 
olina. Lafayette  was  lead- 
ing Cornwallis  a  chase 
through  Virginia.  Now, 
tired  of  his  unsuccessful 
pursuit  and  strategy,  Corn- 
wallis returned  to  the  coast 
and  occupied  a  strong  po- 
sition at  Yorktown. 

Washington  saw  his  chance.     He  found  that  he   could 

have  the  assistance  of  a  French  fleet  that  was  expected  in 

the  Chesapeake.      He  abandoned  his  plan  of 

"Rri  ti  all 

surrender  at       operations    against   New    York   and  marched 
Yorktown,  quickly   to   the  South.     Almost   before   Corn- 

'  '  wallis  could  realize  his  danger  he  found  him- 
self shut  up  in  Yorktown.  Early  in  October  the  bombard- 
ment of  the  works  began,  and  on  the  19th  the  besieged 
army  surrendered,  and  filed  out  of  its  trenches  as  the  band 
played  an  old  English  tune,  "  The  world  turned  upside 
down." 

Upside  down  the  world  surely  seemed.     England  had 


212  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

come  out  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  a  great  colonial 
power,  glorying  in  her  achievements,  astonished  at  her  own 
success.  The  surrender  at  Yorktown  meant  the 
The  end  of  the  ioss  0f  ner  most  promising  and  fruitful  colo- 
nies. Everywhere  she  was  beset  and  humbled. 
The  obstinacy  of  George  III  and  his  ministers  had  found 
its  reward.  They  had  failed  to  understand  the  rudiments 
of  English  liberty.  With  the  failure  of  the  American  war 
fell  kingly  presumption.  Constitutional  government  was 
saved  at  home,  saved  by  an  insurrection  in  the  colonies, 
saved  by  the  loss  of  America.  The  King  had  set  out  at 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  with  a  determination  to  be  King 
indeed,  and  not  the  mere  agent  of  Parliament.  The  Ameri- 
can war  was  in  large  part  the  result  of  his  obstinacy  and 
perseverance ;  he  had  succeeded  in  keeping  in  office  men 
that  were  out  of  sympathy  with  the  nation,  and  were  at 
times  not  in  harmony  with  Parliament.  In  attacking  the 
American  principle,  he  had  been  attacking  the  fundamental 
principle  of  English  liberty ;  and  had  he  been  successful  on 
this  side  of  the  water,  his  success  might  have  well  proved 
fatal  to  the  liberties  of  England  itself.*  Upon  the  surren- 
der of  Cornwallis,  Lord  North,  the  Prime  Minister,  was 
compelled  to  resign,  and  a  Whig  ministry  succeeded  to 
power.  From  that  day  parliamentary  government  was  safe 
in  England,  f 

The  war  was  now  unpopular  in  England,  and  a  treaty  of 
peace  was   only  a   matter   of  time.     John  Jay,  Benjamin 

*  This  is  what  Horace  Walpole  meant  when  he  exclaimed,  "  If 
England  prevails,  English  and  American  liberty  is  at  an  end." 

f  "  The  American  Revolution  was  a  step  in  that  grand  march  of 
civilized  man  toward  larger  freedom  and  better  political  institutions 
which  began  in  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  has  continued  to 
the  present  day.  This  movement  was  felt  in  England  before  the 
American  plantations  were  made.  .  .  .  The  American  Revolution  was 
the  proper  continuation  of  the  English  Revolution  of  1642  and  1688." 
(Hinsdale,  The  American  Government,  p.  54.) 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783.  213 

Franklin,  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  Henry  Lau- 
rens were  appointed  commissioners  to  agree  upon  terms  of 
peace.  Jefferson  did  not  leave  America,  and 
v7Rqty°fpeaCe'  Laurens  took  no  important  part.  An  agree- 
ment was  reached  only  after  considerable  diffi- 
culty and  discussion.  All  differences  were  finally  adjusted, 
and  a  treaty  was  signed,  at  Paris,  September  3,  1783.  The 
northern  boundary  ran  from  the  St.  Croix  River  to  the 
highlands  that  divide  the  rivers  that  empty  into  the  St. 
Lawrence  from  those  that  empty  into  the  Atlantic,  thence 
by  the  Connecticut  Eiver,  the  forty-fifth  parallel,  the  main 
channel  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  middle  of  the  Lakes 
to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  The  boundary  line  then  ran 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  thirty-first  parallel,  thence  east- 
ward to  the  Appalachicola,  and1  on  to  the  Atlantic  by  the 
line  that  now  forms  the  northern  limit  of  Florida. 

These  boundaries  seem  definite  and  the  descriptions 
sufficiently  accurate ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  these  were 
drawn  at  a  time  when  men  were  very  ignorant 
^definite!8  °*  *ne  geo&raPny  °f  the  North  and  West.  Many 
disputes  arose  in  after  years,  and  nearly  sixty 
years  elapsed  before  our  northern  and  northeastern  boundary 
was  finally  established.  At  this  same  time  England  ceded 
the  Floridas  to  Spain,  meaning  to  convey  the  territory  south 
of  the  boundary  agreed  upon  with  the  United  States  * — at 
leant  such  was  our  interpretation  of  the  cession. 

Thus  the  Revolution  ended  with  the  American  people 
in  possession  of  a  vast  domain  stretching  from  the  ocean  to 
the  Mississippi,  a  territory  several  times  as  large  as  France, 
or  much  greater  than  that  of  any  European  power  save 
Russia.      Already  there  were  visions  of  manifest  destiny. 

*  Inasmuch  as  England  had  some  years  before  established  a  prov- 
ince of  West  Florida,  the  northern  limit  of  which  was  32°  30',  Spain 
maintained  for  some  years  that  her  possessions  between  the  Appalachi- 
cola and  the  Mississippi  extended  up  to  this  old  boundary  of  West  Flor- 
ida.   This  matter  was  not  arranged  until  1795.    See  map,  p.  219. 


•?^^v  S7VS;  fj7\  f<*9-  <2^3/&-/7ro,  r,  z,<*-d 


*gcnZ-™      cxZz^dL 


"Zs[*r 


V77 

I3 


m*r 


7/s 


^y^zfe 


/J^op^  *64$z> 


ate j^rfl^Z  /^- ^ 7ZL*3~  &7U 


tyi*3i>Z£3  a.  r^Jo^v- 


-  *3/$,S 


<£/&// 


># 


A  Page  of  Washington's  Accounts. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783. 


215 


The  nation  could  not  long  remain  a  mere  group  of  States 
scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  A  great  political  and 
industrial  future  lay  before  it ;  but  it  must  first 
find  a  proper  method  of  national  organization, 
must  establish  a  suitable  national  government,  must  recog- 
nize in  very  fact  the  existence  of  a  national  life.  Before 
these  great  things  could  be  accomplished  there  were,  as  we 
shall  see,  years  of  confusion  and  times  that  tried  men's 
souls.  "  The  newborn  republic  narrowly  missed  dying  in  its 
cradle." 

References. 

Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  IV;  Sloane,  The 
French  War  and  the  Revolution,  pp.  179-388;  Lodge,  Short  His- 
tory, pp.  501-517  ;  Channing,  The  United  States  of  America,  pp. 
72-107  ;  Higginson,  Larger  History,  pp.  241-293  ;  Lodge,  George 
Washington ;  Ludlow,  The  War  of  American  Independence ;  Fiske, 
The  American  Revolution;  Lodge,  The  Story  of  the  Revolution; 
Brooks,  The  Century  Book  of  the  American  Revolution.  Younger 
students  will  be  especially  interested  in  Fiske,  War  of  Independence ; 
Fiske,  Washington  and  his  Country,  which  is  a  simplified  edition  of 
Irving's  Life  of  Washington ;  also  Coffin,  The  Boys  of  '76. 


Independence  Hall,  as  it  was  duking  the  Eevolution. 
From  contemporary  drawing. 
15 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Confederation  and  the  Constitution— 1781-1789. 

During  nearly  the  whole  course  of  the  war  the  Central 
Government  was  the  Second  Continental  Congress.  There 
was  no  written  instrument  denning  the  power  of  this  body. 
It  used  such  powers  as  it  needed  to  use  or  was  permitted  to 
use  by  the  people.  During  those  years  political  institutions 
were  forming.  Men  were  learning  valuable  political  lessons 
from  experience.  The  powers  that  were  exercised  by  the 
Continental  Congress  were  in  nearly  every  particular  those 
that  were  confided  to  the  central  authority  when  the  writ- 
ten Articles  of  Confederation  were  agreed  upon. 

In  1777  Articles  of  Confederation  were  proposed  by  Con- 
gress to  the  States,  but  they  were  not  ratified  by  all  until 
1781.     By  these  Articles  was  formed  what  pur- 

Mtoritof  P°rted  t0  be  a  "  firm  leaSue  of  friendship  "  be- 
tween the  States.  The  Central  Government,  if 
government  it  may  be  called,  was  a  Congress  composed  of 
delegates  annually  appointed  by  the  States,  and  to  this 
body  was  given  considerable  authority.  It  alone  had  the 
right  and  power  of  declaring  war  or  making  peace,  of  send- 
ing or  receiving  ambassadors,  of  appointing  courts  for  the 
trial  of  piracies  or  felonies  on  the  high  seas,  of  regulating 
the  alloy  and  value  of  coin,  of  fixing  the  standard  of  weights 
and  measures,  of  "  establishing  and  regulating  post  offices 
from  one  State  to  another."  It  also  could  build  and  equip 
a  navy  and  raise  and  support  an  army,  and  make  requisi- 
tion for  troops  upon  the  States.  The  Congress  was  author- 
216 


CONFEDERATION  AND  CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.     217 

ized  to  appoint  a  committee  to  sit  in  the  recess  of  Congress, 
to  be  known  as  a  "  Committee  of  the  States."  In  this  Con- 
gress each  State  had  one  vote  ;  Delaware  had  quite  as  much 
voice  as  had  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia.  No  step  could  be 
taken  without  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  States,  and 
for  many  important  measures  the  consent  of  nine  of  them 
was  necessary.  All  the  States  must  agree  to  an  amendment 
or  alteration  in  the  Articles'. 

This  Congress  stood  forth  as  the  representative  of  the 
American  people,  and  it  had  many  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties :  but  there  was  no  effectual  means  given 

Their  defectSi  . 

of  executing  its  laws  or  of  raising  the  money 
which  was  so  needful.  No  power  was  given  it  to  collect 
taxes  directly  from  individuals,  or  to  levy  duties  on  imports. 
The  only  way  to  get  funds  was  to  ask  the  States  for  them. 
Moreover,  Congress  could  not  execute  its  laws  directly  upon 
the  citizens  of  the  States,  or  compel  obedience  to  treaties 
with  foreign  nations.  It  could  recommend  and  advise,  but 
it  could,  not  execute ;  it  was  soon,  therefore,  in  a  condition 
where  it  could  promise  but  could  not  perform.  Without 
power  over  persons,  it  had  no  efficiency  as  a  government.* 

Each  State  was  now  jealous  in  the  extreme  of  any  au- 
thority beyond  its  own  borders.     This  narrow,  selfish,  short- 
sighted policy  was  due  in  part  to  the  demoral- 
Growth  of  State   —       influences  of  the  war,  in  part  to  the  fact 

selfishness.  °  '         r 

that  the  war  had  been  carried  on  against  an 
external  foe,  and  now  in  the  eyes  of  many  "  King  Cong  " 
had  taken  the  place  of  King  George.  For  some  time  after 
the  peace  local  prejudices  grew  rankly.  As  a  consequence, 
the  requisitions  and  recommendations  of  Congress  had  little 
influence.  The  demands  for  money  met  with  niggardly  re- 
sponses. Each  State  seemed  anxious  to  exalt  itself  at  the 
expense  of  the  nation. 

*  The  Articles  of  Confederation  asserted  that  each  State  retained  its 
sovereignty.     Strictly,  a  confederation  is  a  union  of  sovereign  States. 


218  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Under  such  circumstances  great  difficulties  beset  the 
impotent  Confederation.  Foreign  nations  looked  askance 
at  the  new  combination  of  republics,  and  for- 
Disorderni  ejgn  princes  were  in  no  hurry  to  be  gracious 
to  the  dangerous  democracy  which  had  arisen 
from  rebellion  against  authority.  Congress  had  trouble  in 
raising  money  in  Europe  even  at  enormous  rates  of  interest ; 
for  who  would  trust  a  government  without  visible  means  of 
support  ?  The  treaty  of  1783  was  no  sooner  ratified  than 
broken,  both  by  England  and  America ;  for  the  States  re- 
fused to  obey  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  which  provided 
that  British  creditors  should  find  no  lawful  hindrance  in 
the  collection  of  their  debts,  and  England,  anxious  to  secure 
the  fur  trade  and  the  Indian  alliance,  retained  possession 
of  the  forts  in  the  northern  and  western  part  of  our  terri- 
tory. "  We  are  one  to-day,"  said  Washington,  "  and  thirteen 
to-morrow."  No  foreign  government  could  respect  a  na- 
tion so  organized.  Washington,  indeed,  had  early  predicted 
"  the  worst  consequences  from  a  half-starved,  limping  gov- 
ernment, always  moving  upon  crutches  and  tottering  at 
every  step." 

But  even  more  dangerous  conditions  appeared  within 
the  Union  than  without.  The  States  were  envious  of  one 
D'ffi  nit'  another.     Each  passed  laws  to  increase  its  own 

among  the  commerce  at  the  expense  of  its  neighbors.    The 

States.  States,  with  "  no  convenient  ports  for  foreign 

commerce,  were  subject  to  be  taxed  by  their  neighbors 
through  whose  ports  their  commerce  was  carried  on.  New 
Jersey,  placed  between  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  was 
likened  to  a  cask  tapped  at  both  ends ;  and  North  Carolina, 
between  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  to  a  patient  bleeding 
at  both  arms."  *     Difficulties  arose  between  New  York  and 


*  The  quotation  is  from  James  Madison,  in  the  paper  placed  as  an 
introduction  to  his  notes  on  the  Philadelphia  Convention.  See  Elliot's 
Debates,  vol.  v,  p.  109.     A  very  valuable  paper. 


CONFEDERATION  AND  CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    219 

New  Jersey,  between  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  be- 
tween Connecticut  and  New  York,  and  between  other 
States  as  well.     "  In  sundry  instances  .  .  .  the  navigation 


THE 

UNITED  STATES 

&      AT  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.     O 

SHOWING  WESTERN  LAND  CLAIMS  OF  THE  STATES  1783 


laws  treated  the  citizens  of  other  States  as  aliens."  There 
was  actual  danger  of  civil  war  among  people  who  had 
just  emerged  from  an  eight  years  struggle  against  a  for- 


eign foe. 


220  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Within  the  respective  States  there  was  disorder  and  dis- 
tress. The  paper-money  craze  wrought  havoc  in  some.  A  new 
race  of  speculators  arose  to  make  the  most  of 
No  domestic  tne  situation.  People  who  had  been  rich  found 
themselves  poor;  their  farms  were  mortgaged 
or  their  trade  was  stopped,  while  perchance  they  had  paper 
money  by  the  bagful  stored  away  in  the  attic.  Business 
was  so  depressed  that  there  were  want  and  suffering.  Riots 
and  mobs  ensued.  In  Massachusetts  a  dangerous  insurrec- 
tion broke  out.  Here,  as  everywhere,  a  good  many  men  were 
out  of  work  or  could  find  no  money  to  pay  their  debts,  and, 
as  is  customarily  the  case  in  times  of  distress,  the  idle  and 
the  vicious  saw  an  opportunity  to  right  their  fancied 
wrongs.  Several  hundred  men  came  together  under  the 
leadership  of  one  Daniel  Shays,  an  old  Continental  captain, 
who  seems  to  have  been  a  weak  and  inefficient  creature,  un- 
fit to  command  or  hold  in  check  the  rabble  that  followed 
his  standard.  Conflicts  between  the  insurgents  and  the 
State  troops  ensued.  The  malcontents  were  especially  bit- 
ter in  their  hatred  of  courts  and  lawyers,  and  they  pre- 
vented the  Supreme  Court  from  holding  its  regular  session 
at  Springfield.  By  the  energetic  action  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment the  uprising  was  finally  quelled,  but  the  people  of 
the  whole  land  feared  and  wondered.  They  began  to  long 
for  a  national  government  with  power,  a  government  that 
could  restore  harmony  between  jealous  States,  able  to  win 
respect  abroad,  establish  justice,  and  insure  domestic  tran- 
quillity.* 

Before  studying  the  steps  that  were  taken  to  organize  a 
new  government  and  establish  a  permanent  union,  we  must 
turn  aside  to  notice  the  settlement  of  conflicting  claims  of 
the  States  to  Western  lands.     Even  before  the  independ- 


*  "  It  is  indeed  difficult  to  overcharge  any  picture  of  the  gloom  and 
apprehension  which  then  pervaded  the  public  councils  as  well  as  the 
private  meditations  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  country."  (Story,  Com- 
mentaries on  the  Constitution,  vol.  i,  §  271.) 


CONFEDERATION  AND   CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    221 

ence  of  the  United  States  had  been  acknowledged  by  Great 
Britain  there  had  arisen  much  discussion  over  the  owner- 
ship of  the  territory  west  of  the  mountains. 
Western  land      Six  of  the   States  — New  Hampshire,  Rhode    \ 

claims.  r  ' 

Island,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
and  Maryland — could  set  up  no  claim  to  this  territory. 
Their  boundaries  were  defined.  The  other  States  claimed 
lands  stretching  west  to  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  South  of 
the  Ohio  there  was  no  good  ground  for  much  dispute. 
Each  State  might  take  possession  of  the  lands  lying  directly 
to  the  west ;  but  to  the  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  there  were 
conflicting  claims.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  based 
their  titles  on  their  old  charters.  Each  claimed  a  strip  of 
land  extending  through  the  Northwest.  The  land  claimed 
by  Massachusetts  formed  a  large  portion  of  what  is  now 
Wisconsin  and  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan.  The 
Connecticut  strip  was  chiefly  in  what  is  now  northern  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois.  New  York  set  up  a  title  to  a  vast 
territory  in  the  West  on  the  ground  that  she  had  received 
under  her  protection  the  Iroquois  Indians  and  was  lord  of 
their  domains.  As  scalping  parties  of  these  fierce  warriors 
had  wandered  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  and  extorted  tribute 
or  homage,  New  York  thus  asserted  ownership  to  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  Northwest.  The  claims  of  Virginia  were 
very  strong.  She  based  her  title,  first,  on  her  early  charter,^ 
which  described  her  dominion  as  running  up  into  the  land 
"west  and  northwest";  second,  on  the  fact  that  George 
Rogers  Clark  had  won  and  held  this  territory,  and  that  it  was 
the  pluck  and  enterprise  of  Virginia  that  had  secured  it. 

Some  of  the  States,  hemmed  in  by  definite  boundaries, 
had  hesitated  to  agree  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation  be- 
cause they  feared  the  overweening  influence  of 
Western  claims  tjie  0^eYS  wno  thus  laid  claim  to  a  great  do- 

given  np.  f3 

minion  in  the  West.  Maryland  was  long  per- 
sistent in  her  refusal  to  sign  under  such  circumstances,  and 
in  fact  did  not  do  so  until  New  York  had  yielded,  and  there  / 


222  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  good  reason  to  believe  that  all  the  other  States  would 
likewise  relinquish  their  claims.  Within  a  few  years  after 
the  establishment  of  the  Articles  all  the  land  northwest  of 
the  Ohio  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  claimant 
States.*  Connecticut  reserved  for  her  own  use  a  strip  of 
land  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long  south  of  Lake 
Erie.  This  was  later  sold  by  the  State,  but  is  still  often 
called  the  "  Western  Eeserve."  Part  of  the  territory  south 
of  the  Ohio  was  ceded  to  the  United  States.  At  a  later 
day  Kentucky  was  organized  as  a  State,  without  previous 
cession  by  Virginia.  \ 

These  cessions  of  the  West  were  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance.   Thus  it  happened  that  these  various  commonwealths 
forming  the  Confederation  had  a  common  in- 
Restdtsof  terest  in  common  property,  and  this  interest 

cessions.  x 

formed  a  strong  bond  of  union  when  such  ties 
were  sorely  needed ;  and  thus  it  happened  that  almost  from 
the  beginning  of  our  national  history  we  have  had  a  wide 
public  domain.  Moreover,  it  was  understood  that  the 
people  of  this  new  West  were  not  to  be  held  in  subjection, 
but  when  the  population  was  large  enough,  new  States  were 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Confederation  on  an  equality  with 
the  old. \  Thus  arose  the  idea  of  our  wise  system  with  re- 
gard to  the  Territories. 

I  *  Connecticut  had  claimed  a  large  portion  of  the  northern  part  of 
Pennsylvania.  This,  however,  was  decided  to  belong  to  Pennsylvania. 
The  little  triangular  piece  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  was  later 
ceded  to  that  State  by  the  National  Government.  Massachusetts  also 
laid  claim  to  a  portion  of  what  is  now  New  York.  The  two  States 
came  to  an  agreement  about  it,  the  jurisdiction  passing  to  New  York. 

f  North  Carolina  ceded  Tennessee  in  1790. 

%  Congress  declared  that  these  lands  should  be  settled  and  "  formed 
into  distinct  republican  States  which  shall  become  members  of  the 
Federal  Union."  "  From  this  line  of  policy,"  says  Johnston,  "  Congress 
has  never  swerved,  and  it  has  been  more  successful  than  stamp  acts 
or  Boston  port  bills  in  building  up  an  empire."  (Lalor's  Cyclopaedia, 
vol.  iii,  p.  916.) 


CONFEDERATION  AND   CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    223 

Soon  after  the  cession  of  the  Northwest,  plans  for  its 
government  were  discussed.     In  1784  Jefferson  submitted  a 

plan  for  the  government  of  all  the  Western 
°fri7840es         country  from   its   southern   boundary  to    the 

Lakes.  He  proposed  that  slavery  should  not 
exist  there  after  1800 ;  but  this  part  of  his  plan  was  not  car- 
ried, though  a  majority  of  the  State  delegations  present  in 
Congress  at  the  time  the  vote  was  taken  were  in  favor  of  it. 
The  rest  of  the  plan  was  adopted,  but  it  was  not  put  into 
operation.  In  1787  was  enacted  the  famous  ordinance  for 
the  government  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio. 
This  provided  for  the  organization  of  government.  The 
first  officials  were  to  be  a  governor,  secretary,  and  three 
judges  appointed  by  Congress;  but  as  the  population  in- 
creased, the  people  were  to  be  allowed  a  representation  in 

the  Government.    Not  less  than  three  nor  more 

than  five  States  might  be  formed  from  the 
Territory  and  admitted  to  "  a  share  in  the  Federal  councils." 
Sound  doctrines  of  civil  liberty  were  announced.  No  per- 
son was  to  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship 
or  religious  sentiments.  Each  citizen  was  entitled  to  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  trial  by  jury.  Neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  punishment  for  crime, 
was  permitted ;  and  the  Territory  and  the  States  which 
might  be  formed  from  it  were  to  remain  forever  "  a  part  of 
this  Confederacy  of  the  United  States  of  America."  It 
announced  in  telling  phrase  that  "  religion,  morality,  and 
knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  the 
happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education 
shall  forever  be  encouraged."  This  is  one  of  the  wisest 
documents  ever  issued  by  a  deliberative  assembly.  It  had 
great  weight  in  shaping  later  territorial  organization.  It 
kept  the  dark  tide  of  slavery  from  inundating  the  North- 
west. The  ordinance  of  1787  was  passed  by  the  dying 
Congress  of  the  Confederation.  Its  trials  and  its  failures 
had  been  many,  but  the  honor  of  this  act  rests  with  it. 


224 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


"  I  doubt,"  said  Webster,  "  whether  one  single  law  of  any 
lawgiver,  ancient  or  modern,  has  produced  effects  of  more 
distinct,  marked,  and  lasting  character  than  the  ordinance 
of  1787." 

The  discord  among  the  States,  the  distress  and  disorder 

everywhere,  taught  their  evident  lesson.    Strong  government 

was  needful.     Shays's  rebellion  gave  the  last 

The  work  for       salutarv  shock.     Men  realized  that  something 

union.  * 

must  be  done.  The  country  presented  an 
"  awful  spectacle  " ;  there  was  a  "  nation  without  a  national 
government."  Some  men  were  ready  to  do  more  than  pon- 
der and  lament.  Washington's 
influence  was  always  for  nation- 
ality and  against  State  selfish- 
ness. He  belonged  to  Amer- 
ica. Without  him,  lasting  union 
would  have  been  almost  impos- 
sible. Others,  too,  were  alert 
and  active.  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton and  James  Madison  deserve 
chief  mention.  In  1786  delegates 
from  the  States  were  asked  by 
Virginia  to  meet  at  Annapolis 
to  consider  the  commercial  rela- 
tions of  the  country.  Only  five 
States  were  represented,  but  the 
convention  asked  for  a  new  convention  at  Philadelphia  the 
ensuing  spring,  to  take  measures  for  rendering  "  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union." 
In  May  (1787)  this  convention  met.  Some  of  the  dele- 
gates came  late,  but  finally  all  of  the  States 
were  represented  save  Rhode  Island.  The  best 
and  wisest  men  in  the  country  were  present. 
Washington  was  chosen  President.  Among  the  ablest  of 
the  members  were  Madison  of  Virginia,  James  Wilson, 
Gouverneur   Morris,  and   Benjamin    Franklin  of   Pennsyl- 


^^X 


The 

Philadelphia 

convention. 


CONFEDERATION   AND   CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    225 


vania,  Alexander  Hamilton  of  New  York,  Oliver  Ellsworth 
of  Connecticut,  Rufus  King  of  Massachusetts,  and  Charles 
C.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina. 
The  convention  lasted  four 
months,  its  members  often  de- 
spairing of  success.  So  many 
differences  arose  that  it  seemed 
at  times  impossible  to  reach  a  rea- 
sonable conclusion.  The  great 
influence  of  Washington  and 
Franklin  contributed  to  har- 
mony. It  was  determined  at 
once  to  establish  a  government 
with  supreme  executive,  legisla- 
tive, and  judicial  departments. 
The  adoption  of  this  resolution 
meant  that  the  convention  did  not  intend  to  patch  up  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  but  to  found  a  real  national 
government  with  power  to  act — to  form  a  Con- 
stitution, in  order  that  there  might  be  no  longer 
merely  a  Congress  whose  efficiency  depended  on  the  whim 
or  caprice  of  the  States. 

The  first  difficulty  arose  over  the  question  of  represen- 
tation in  the  Legislature  of  the  new  Government.  Many 
of  the  delegates  from  the  small  States  in  this 
convention  seemed  merely  solicitous  for  the 
dignity  of  their  respective  States,  and  anxious 
to  preserve  them  from  attack  by  securing  to  them  the  same 
weight  in  national  councils  as  had  the  larger  States ;  but 
many  of  them  wished  even  more  than  this,  and  demanded 
that  the  principle  of  the  Confederation  be  perpetuated  so 
that  the  Central  Government  should  continue  the  creature 
of  the  States,  which  would  thus  form  the  basis  of  the  new 
order  as  they  had  of  the  old.  This,  the  Small  State,  party 
demanded  that  each  State  should  have  as  many  representa- 
tives as  every  other. 


Its  purposes. 


Small  State 
party. 


226  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  so-called  Large  State  party,  led 

by  Madison,  Wilson,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  King,  insisted 

that  the  basis  of  the  new  Government  was  not 

LaarT  Stat6       to  be  the  States>  but  tne  people,  and  that  the 

States  therefore  should  send  representatives  to 

the  Congress  of  the  new  Government  in  proportion  to  their 

population.     It  was  wrong  and  illogical  to  give  Delaware  as 

many  representatives  as  Pennsyl- 
vania or  Virginia.  Thus  we  see 
that  a  real  fundamental  question 
of  principle  was  involved.  The 
extremists  of  the  Small  State 
party  desired,  in  reality,  a  con- 
federation of  equal  States ;  the 
Large  State  Party  struggled  for 
a  government  based  upon  the 
people.  Therefore  we  might  be 
justified  in  calling  one  party  the 
State  party,  the  other  the  Nation- 
al party.* 

The  contest  between  these  two 
factions  was  long  and  severe.  At 
times  it  seemed  as  if  there  could 
be  no  agreement.  "  Gentlemen,"  exclaimed  Bedford,  of 
Delaware,  "  I  do  not  trust  you.  .  .  .  Sooner  than  be  ruined, 
there  are  foreign  powers  who  will  take  us  by  the  hand." 
By  a  vote  of  six  to  five  the  convention  decided  in  favor  of 
proportional  representation  in  the  more  numerous  branch 
of  the  Legislature.     But  it  was  impossible  for  the  Large 

*  The  States  that  voted  for  proportional  representation  (the  Large 
State  party)  were  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  Of  these  the  first  three  were  really 
large  States.  Five  States  voted  against  proportional  representation; 
they  were  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Mary- 
land. The  New  Hampshire  delegation  came  too  late  to  take  part  in  the 
first  critical  vote.     Rhode  Island  sent  no  delegation  at  all. 


CONFEDERATION   AND   CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    227 

State  party  to  secure  that  basis  for  representation  in  the 
other  branch.  A  compromise  was  at  length  agreed  upon, 
whereby  each  State  was  to  have  two  senators, 
Struggle  and  while  the  House  was  to  have  the  right  to 
°mpr01  originate   all  bills  for  raising  revenue.     Thus 

was  formed  the  first  compromise  of  the  Constitution. 

The  student  should  see  clearly  the  real  controversy, 
the  real  difference  between  the  Large  State  men  and  the 
Small  State  men.  The  former  were  for  a  government 
based  on  the  people,  receiving  its  power  directly  from  the 
people,  and  touching  the  States  as  little  as  possible.  The 
Small  State  men  were  in  part  divided:  they  all  wanted 
equal  representation  of  the  States ;  but  some  of  them  were 
not  opposed  to  a  national  government,  while  others  desired 
to  preserve  the  principle  of  the  Confederation — to  maintain 
the  equal  sovereignty  of  the  States. 

But  after  this  first  and  important  agreement  on  the  sub- 
ject of  representation  and  the  character  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment had  been  reached,  there  remained  many 
Slavery  causes  other  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  These  arose 
largely  from  the  fact  that  the  industrial  inter- 
ests of  the  Southern  States  were  essentially  different  from 
the  Northern,  the  former  being  built  upon  slave  labor,  the 
latter  upon  free.  It  stands  to  the  everlasting  credit  of 
Madison,  Mason,  and  others  from  Virginia  that  they  de- 
nounced slavery  and  the  slave  traffic ;  but  the  delegates 
from  the  States  of  the  far  South  were  anxious  for  more 
slaves  and  for  the  protection  of  the  system.  Still  another 
question  arose :  Were  slaves  to  be  counted  in  determining 
the  basis  of  representation  of  the  States,  or  should  they,  since 
they  were  held  as  property,  be  no  more  taken  into  account 
than  the  sheep  and  oxen  of  the  Northern  farmer  ?  Again, 
the  Southern  States  generally  were,  to  use  Mason's  words, 
"  staple  States  " — that  is,  they  raised  raw  material  and  ex- 
ported a  large  part  of  it.  They  feared  that,  if  Congress 
were    given   authority   to   regulate   commerce,   the   power 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

would  be  used  to  tax  exports  and  destroy  Southern  trade. 
These  differences  were  finally  settled  by  various  bargains  or 
compromises. 

In  determining  the  basis  of  representation  and  of  direct 

taxation,  it  was  decided  that  five  slaves  should  count  as 

three  freemen.*    "Slaves  were  to  be  admitted 

Compromises.        ^^    ^    ^    Qf    Januaryj    1808?    \>ut   jn    the 

meantime  Congress  should  have  power  to  levy  a  duty  of  ten 
dollars  on  each  person  so  imported,  f  Congress  was  given 
full  authority  to  regulate  interstate  and  foreign  commerce, 
but  was  prohibited  from  levying  an  export  duty.  J 

The  Constitution  was  signed  by  delegates  from  all  the 
States  represented  in  the  convention  on  the  17th  of  Sep- 
tember, but  not  by  all  the  delegates.  Three 
Constitution  ^q  were  present  refused  to  sign ;  thirteen  had 
left  during  the  course  of  the  convention.  Only 
thirty-nine,  therefore,  out  of  the  fifty-five  members  gave 
their  final  consent.  When  such  evidences  of  differing  opin- 
ions appeared  in  this  assembly  of  wise  men,  what  hope 
could  there  be  of  the  success  of  the  Constitution  when  dis- 
cussed before  the  people  ?  It  was  laid  before  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation,  and  was  then  submitted  by  this  Con- 
gress "-to  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  in  each  State 
by  the  people  thereof." 

The  new  Constitution  was  essentially  different  from  the 
Articles.  The  new  Government  was  not  to  be  the  agent  of 
the  States  and   dependent  on  State  generosity  for  funds, 


*  See  the  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  2. 

f  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  1. 

%  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  5.  It  may  be  noticed  that  the  impor- 
tation of  slaves  till  1808  was  sufficient  to  fasten  the  slavery  system  per- 
manently on  the  Southern  States,  just  as  many  of  the  members  of  the 
convention  said  it  would.  Doubtless  even  without  this  right  of  impor- 
tation it  would  have  been  difficult  to  root  out  the  system.  As  to  the 
effect  of  the  three-fifths  compromise  as  it  appears  to  a  strong  oppo- 
nent of  slavery,  see  Gay's  Madison,  pp.  99,  100. 


CONFEDERATION  AND  CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    229 


Its  essential 
character. 


or  on  State  humor  for  obedience.  It  was  to  spring  from 
the  people  and  to  have  power  over  the  people.  The  pre- 
amble of  the  Constitution  states  that  "we,  the 
people,  ...  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Consti- 
tution." The  laws  of  the  Government  were  to 
be  direct  commands  to  persons.  It  could  raise  money  with 
its  own  machinery  and  compel  obedience  with  its  own  offi- 
cers.    Great  political  powers  were  given  to  the  new  Govern- 

Etghth     Federal    PILLAR    reared? 


From  the  Independent  Chronicle  and  Universal  Advertiser,  Boston,  Thursday,  June  18,  1788. 

ment,  powers  general  in  their  nature,  such  as  the  right  to 
make  peace  or  war,  conduct  negotiations  with  foreign  gov- 
ernments, raise  armies  and  equip  navies,  establish  post 
offices  and  post  roads,  regulate  commerce  among  the  States 
or  with  foreign  nations.  All  power  was  not  bestowed  on 
the  National  Government,  but  only  certain  enumerated 

The  Ninth  PILLAR  erected  / 

"  The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  (hall  be  fuffitient  forthe  eftahlifti- 
ment  of  this  Conftitution,  between  the  States  lo  ratifying  the  fame."  Art.  vii. 

INCIPIENT  MAGNI PROCEDERE  MENSES. 

The  Attraction  rouft 
be  irrefiftibl© 


From  the  Independent  Chronicle  and  Universal  Advertiser,  Boston,  Thursday,  June  26,  1788. 


powers ;  the  rest  belonged  to  the  States  or  to  the  people, 
unless  the  Constitution  forbade  their  use  by  any  govern- 
mental authority.  There  were  thus  created  immediately 
over  every  citizen  two  governments,  occupying  each  a  dif- 


230  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ferent  sphere  of  political  action,  and  each  having  power  to 
order  and  compel  obedience.  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
this  new  republic  was  this  distribution  of  political  author- 
ity between  the  Central  Government  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  commonwealths  that  composed  the  Union  on  the  other. 

Moreover,  the  form  of  the  new  Government  was  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  old.  Power  was  divided  between  sep- 
arate departments,  and  each  department  was 
to  be  in  large  measure  independent  of  the 
other.  A  single  person,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  given  executive  authority.  The  experiences  of  the 
confederation  had  taught  that  one  man  can  execute  the 
laws  more  vigorously  and  sensibly  than  many.  The  legis- 
lative power  was  intrusted  to  two  bodies  of  nearly  equal 
power,  that  one  might  act  as  a  check  and  a  balance  to  the 
other.  An  independent  judiciary  was  provided  for,  the 
judges  to  be  appointed  by  the  Executive  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  hold  office  during  good  be- 
havior. Thus  the  separation  of  the  powers  of  government, 
which  was  thought  to  be  essential  for  the  preservation  of 
liberty,  formed  an  important  part  of  the  new  plan.* 

Conventions  were  summoned  in  all  the  States  save  obsti- 
nate little  Ehode  Island,  to  pass  upon  the  new  Constitution. 
The  people  of  eleven  States  ratified  the  instru- 

yJgSjJJ  ment  before  the  end  of  1788-  This  decision, 
however,  was  reached  only  after  prolonged  dis- 
cussion and  debate.  In  some  of  the  States  the  outcome  was 
doubtful  almost  to  the  end.  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and 
Xew  York  were  the  most  doubtful  States.     Here  the  Con- 

*  Students  of  history  and  of  politics  believed  that  the  powers  of 
government  should  be  classified  according  to  their  nature,  and  that  the 
same  body  should  not  be  possessed  of  two  essentially  different  kinds  of 
power.  "  If  it  be,"  said  Madison,  "  a  fundamental  principle  of  free 
government  that  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  powers  should 
be  separately  exercised,  it  is  equally  so  that  they  be  independently  ex- 
ercised."   (Madison's  Journal  of  the  Convention,  July  19th.) 


CONFEDERATION  AND   CONSTITUTION— 1781-1789.    231 


stitution  had  formidable  opponents  and  no  less  able  defend- 
ers. The  ratification  in  the  New  York  convention  was  due, 
in  large  part,  to  the  eloquence  and  able  statesmanship  of 
Hamilton.  During  the  progress  of  the  discussion  in  New 
York,  Hamilton,  Madison,  and  John  Jay  wrote  a  series  of  arti- 
cles for  the  press,  commenting  on  the  character  of  the  Con- 
stitution. These  papers,  gathered  into  a  volume  called  the 
Federalist,  constitute  a  great  work  on  the  science  of  govern- 
ment, one  of  the  most  famous  books  ever  written  in  America. 


Map  showing  Distribution  of  Population  in  1790. 

Some  of  the  State  conventions  would  have  rejected  the 
Constitution  had  its  supporters  not  agreed  that  after  the 
organization  of  the  new  Government  amendments  should 
be  added  in  the  nature  of  a  bill  of  rights  to  guard  against 
tyrannical  action  on  the  part  of  the  central  authority.  The 
first  ten  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  afterward 
agreed  to  in  accordance  with  this  understanding.*     North 

*  The  first  ten  amendments  were  adopted  in  Washington's  adminis- 
tration.    They  were  declared  in  force  December  15,  1791.     It  is  to  be 
noticed  that  they  are  restrictions  on  the  power  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment, and  do  not  bind  the  States. 
16 


232  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Carolina  did  not  become  a  member  of  the  new  Union  till 
November,  1789.  Ehode  Island  gave  up  her  pretensions  to 
independence  in  1790. 

The  Constitution  thus  established  was  in  one  sense  not 
a  new  creation.  It  was  more  than  the  outcome  of  a  con- 
ference of  wise  men.  It  was  the  result  of  ex- 
The  product  perience,  and  was  in  itself  a  growth.  Its  main 
characteristics  were  the  products  of  the  time. 
The  very  failures  of  the  Confederation  had  shown  the 
proper  basis.  In  the  details  of  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment there  was  little  that  was  absolutely  new.  The  fram- 
ers  drew  from  the  history  of  other  nations,  from  their 
knowledge  of  the  English  law  and  institutions,  but  most  of 
all  from  their  own  political  experience.  They  were  at  once 
scholars  and  men  of  affairs,  students  of  history  and  of  prac- 
tical politics.  The  goodness  of  their  handiwork  resulted 
from  their  wise  appreciation  of  the  teaching  of  the  past, 
and  the  clever  joining  together  of  the  best  and  safest  mate- 
rial that  the  tide  of  history  brought  to  their  feet.* 

References. 

The  best  short  references  are  Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union, 
pp.  102-135;  Walker,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  pp.  1-73;  Morse, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Chapters  III  and  IV;  Lodge,  George  Wash- 
ington, Volume  II,  Chapter  I;  Pellew,  John  Jay,  Chapter IX;  Tyler, 
Patrick  Henry,  Chapters  XVII-XIX ;  Schouler,  History,  Volume  I, 
pp.  1-74.  A  very  interesting  account  of  the  period  is  given  in 
Fiske,  The  Critical  Period  of  American  History;  and  a  much  longer 
and  fuller  statement  in  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the 
United  States,  Volume  I,  especially  Chapters  I-V. 

*  "  The  American  Constitution  is  no  exception  to  the  rule,  that 
everything  which  has  power  to  win  the  obedience  and  respect  of  men 
must  have  its  roots  deep  in  the  past;  and  that  the  more  slowly  every 
institution  has  grown,  so  much  the  more  enduring  is  it  likely  to  prove. 
There  is  little  in  the  Constitution  that  is  absolutely  new.  There  is 
much  that  is  as  old  as  Magna  Charta."  (Bryce,  The  American  Com- 
monwealth, vol.  i,  p.  29.) 


CHATTER   XL 

Federal  Supremacy — Organization  of  the  Government— 
1789-1801. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON— 
1789-1797. 

The  Congress  of  the  confederation  made  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  ushering  in  the  new  Government  and  then 
_  .  ... ,  expired.*     The  election  of  President  was  ap- 

EstaDlisament  r  r 

of  the  pointed  for  the  first  Wednesday  in  January, 

Government.  1789?  the  meetiiig  of  the  electors  for  the  first 
Wednesday  in  February,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  the  real  beginning  of  the  new  order  for  the 
first  Wednesday  in  March.  It  happened  that  the  first 
AVednesday  in  March  fell  on  the  4th  of  that  month,  and 
thus  it  came  about  that  March  4th  is  the  day  when  a  new 
President  and  a  new  Congress  assume  the  duties  of  office. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Congress  did  not  assemble  at 
the  appointed  time.  Its  members  leisurely  came  together 
in  New  York,  where  the  Government  was  to  be  organized, 
and  there  was  not  a  quorum  of  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  till  the  1st  of  April,  or  of  the  Senate  till  some  days 
later. 

When  the  votes  for  President  were  counted  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  two  houses,  it  was  found  that  Washington  had 

*  The  confederate  Congress  continued  in  formal  existence  till  March 
2,  1789.  "  It  then  nickered  and  went  out  without  any  public  notice." 
One  of  the  men  at  the  time  said  it  was  hard  to  say  whether  the  old 
government  was  dead  or  the  new  one  alive. 

233 


234 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN   NATION. 


been  unanimously  elected  President,  and  that  John  Adams, 
having  received  the  next  greatest  number  of  ballots,  was 
m  _.  elected  Vice-President.*     Washington's  iour- 

Washington  .    .  8  J 

elected  and  ney  iroiii  Virginia  to  JNew  lork  was  a  long 
inaugurated.  triumphal  progress.  The  people  gathered 
everywhere  to  pay  a  reverent  respect  to  the  man  whose 
greatness  was  deeply  felt  and  honored.  Not  till  the  30th 
of  April  did  he  take  the  oath  of  office.     The  place  was  the 

Senate  balcony  of  Federal 
Hall.  The  scene  was  an  im- 
pressive one.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  the  world's  great 
men  consecrated  himself 
anew  to  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  entered  upon 
the  duty  of  giving  life  and 
vigor  to  the  new  Government 
of  the  young  nation.  After 
the  oath  had  been  taken 
Washington  read  to  Con- 
gress, assembled  in  the  Senate 
chamber,  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress. "It  was  very  touch- 
ing," we  are  told  by  a  spec- 


yy^i^t  y<z 


<Zc^>- 


tator,  "and  quite  of  the  solemn  kind.  His  aspect  grave 
almost  (<>  sadness;  his  modesty,  actually  shaking ;  his  voice 
deep,  a  little  tremulous,  and  so  low  as  to  call  for  close 
attention ;  added  to  the  series  of  objects  presented  to  the 
mind  and  overwhelming  it,  produced  emotions  of  the  most 
affecting  kind  upon  the  members." 

Even  before  the  inauguration  the  House  had  entered 
earnestly  upon  the  work  of  legislation.     The  great  need  of 


*  By  the  Constitution  as  it  then  was,  each  elector  east  two  votes 
without  designating  which  was  for  President  and  which  for  Vice- 
Prosident.     Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  1,  §  '3. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    WASI 1 1  NOToN— 1780-1797.     235 

the  new  Government  was  money,  and  bo  the  House  began 
at  once  the  consideration  of  ;i  tarifE  bill.  One  was  passed 
n  early  in  the  summer,  and  ;i  national  income 

Congress  J 

begins  was  thus  secured.     It  proved  m  a  short  time 

legislation.  |0  |)(.  inadequate,  and  the  duties  wore  increased. 
This  and  other  means  of  obtaining  money  soon  gave  the 
Government  dignity  and  won  it  respect. 

But  much  besides  the  raising  of  funds  was  necessary  to 
put  the  lutw  Government  into  running  order.    The  Consti- 
tution, general  in  its  provisions,  did  not  outline 
Executive         m  fofafi  the  forms  and  methods  that  must  be 

departments. 

followed  in  giving  it  effect.  Many  new  offices 
must  be  established  and  their  duties  declared.  The  expe- 
riences of  the  war  and  the  Confederation  had  shown  the 
value  of  single  administrative  officers,  and  the  Constitution 
provided  that  the  President  could  "require  the  opinion,  in 
writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive  de- 
partments, upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  then- 
respective  offices."*  Congress  now  passed  bills  to  form 
three  such  departments — State  (at  first  called  Foreign  Af- 
fairs), Treasury,  and  War.  The  Post  Office  was  continued 
on  its  old  footing,  and  the  office  of  Attorney-General  was 
established.  This  officer  soon  became  an  important  person 
in  the  administration  because  of  his  duty  to  give  the  Presi- 
dent Legal  advice,  but  he  was  not  at  first  at  the  head  of 
what  was  strictly  an  executive  department. 

To  the  offices  thus  established    Washington  appointed 
able  men.    Thomas  Jefferson,  then  absent  in  France,  was 

upon  his  return  made  Secretary  of  State,  as- 
Washington's     Bummg  the  duties  of  the  office  in  1790.    The 

appointments.  ° 

Treasury    portfolio   was  given  to   Alexander 

Hamilton,  then  a  young  man  hardly  more  than  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  possessed  of  wonderful  executive  ability,  with 
a  strong  grasp  of  details  and  a  firm  comprehension  of  prin- 

*  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  2,  §  1. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     237 

ciples.  He  had  long  been  interested  in  the  disordered 
finances  of  the  Confederation,  and  Washington  thought 
him  the  man  to  bring  order  out  of  the  confusion  that  every- 
where prevailed.  For  this  task  he  was  specially  qualified. 
All  matters  seemed  to  take  form  and  arrange  themselves  in 
passing  through  his  mind.  His  task  was  a  difficult  one. 
"  Finance  ! "  said  Gouverneur  Morris  to  Jay  at  one  time ; 
"  Ah,  my  friend,  all  that  remains  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion grounds  there."  The  fate  of  the  Constitution  seemed 
to  depend  upon  the  success  with  which  order  was  brought 
out  of  the  disorder  that  had  been  inherited  from  the  war 
and  the  critical  period.  Henry  Knox,  an  excellent  officer 
and  an  able  man,  head  of  the  War  Department  under  the 
Confederation,  was  made  Secretary  of  War.  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph was  appointed  Attorney-General. 

We  must  remember  that  the  Constitution  does  not  pro- 
vide for  a  Cabinet,  but  simply  speaks  of  executive  depart- 
Th  Am  I  nients.  In  fact,  even  the  English  Cabinet  was 
Cabinet  a  not  so  clearly  defined  then  as  now ;  its  func- 

growth.  tions  were  not  so  evident  and  well  understood. 

So  that  we  ought  not  to  expect  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Ameri- 
cans had  had  no  experience  with  a  Cabinet,  the  heads  of  the 
executive  departments  would  be  formed  at  once  into  a 
single  body,  bent  on  carrying  out  a  well-recognized  policy. 
At  the  present  time  the  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet 
meet  together  at  intervals ;  in  these  meetings  great  ques- 
tions of  state  are  discussed,  and  it  is  thought  desirable  that 
there  should  be,  in  a  very  general  way,  harmony  and  co-opera- 
tion, at  times  even  a  definite  Cabinet  policy.  This  state  of 
things  is,  however,  the  result  of  growth.  No  such  con- 
dition existed  in  1789 — indeed  was  hardly  possible — for  as 
yet  there  were  no  political  parties  with  a  distinct  programme 
of  action.  Washington  sometimes  called  the  heads  of  de- 
partments together  for  consultation,  sometimes  asked  for 
their  individual  opinions  in  writing,  or  for  the  advice  of  one 
alone. 


238 


HISTORY   OF   THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 


As  it  turned  out,  Washington's  first  Cabinet  contained 
men  who  by  training  and  temperament  were  quite  diverse. 
Two  opposite  tendencies  in  political  life  were 
elements  in  the    represented   in   it.      On   many   questions  pre- 
Cabinet.  sented  for  discussion,  Hamilton  and  Jefferson 

took  different  positions.    With  the  former,  Knox  was  apt  to 
agree,  while  Jefferson  and  Randolph  were  often  opposed  to 

the  other  two.  Jefferson  was 
a  man  of  great  ability,  and 
was  a  statesman  of  wide 
powers.  He  was  strongly 
democratic  in  his  sympa- 
thies, believing  that  the  peo- 
ple at  large  were  the  purest 
and  safest  source  of  politi- 
cal power  and  opinion.  He 
was  given  to  sentiment,  if 
not  to  sentimentality,  and 
he  was  not  always  strong  as 
an  administrator.  During 
his  political  career  in  Vir- 
ginia he  had  attacked  the 
aristocratic  institutions  of 
the  colony  and  State,  and  he  now  had  no  sympathy  with 
governments  or  organizations  whose  tendency  was  to  check 
free  growth  and  free  thinking.  He  played  no  such  part  as 
Hamilton  and  Washington  in  bringing  about  order  and  sys- 
tem and  establishing  the  new  Government.  His  greatness 
lay  in  the  fact  that  he  appreciated  the  sentiment  or  spirit 
of  popular  government,  a  spirit  that  was  destined  to  be  the 
ruling  force  in  the  great  republic,  which  was  then  organ- 
izing itself  for  effective  work.  In  this  sympathy  he  was 
opposed  to  many  men  of  that  time  who  believed  with  John 
Adams  that  "  the  rich,  well-born  and  the  able  "  were  quali- 
fied to  rule.  While  Hamilton  was  not  entirely  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  popular  government,  he  represented   the  con- 


<72i9X 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     239 

servative  elements  of  the  nation.  His  power  was  in  admin- 
istration, in  bringing  order  out  of  disorder.  He  had  no 
fear  of  an  energetic  and  efficient  government,  and  felt 
keenly  the  necessity  of  such  government  after  experience 
with  the  discord  and  turbulence  of  the  critical  period. 

At  this  first  session  of  the  First  Congress,  Federal  courts 
were  established.     Besides  the  Supreme  Court,  Circuit  and 

District  Courts  were  provided  for.  All  cases 
^hrh^         ^fta^  un(^er  the  Constitution  might  come  under 

Federal  jurisdiction  were  not  confided  to  these 
courts  alone,  but  the  State  courts  were  allowed  concurrent 
jurisdiction  in  many  cases.  To  avoid  obscurity  and  con- 
fusion by  differing  interpretations  of  national  laws,  and  to 
avoid  the  possibility  that  the  effect  and  nature  of  Federal 
statutes  should  be  permanently  decided  by  the  State  courts 
in  such  a  way  as  to  detract  from  the  power  and  efficiency 
of  the  National  Government,  provision  was  made  for  an 
appeal  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  a  State  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  of  cases  (1)  where  a  decision 
had  been  rendered  in  the  State  court  denying  the  validity 
of  some  Federal  statute  or  treaty  ;  or  (2)  refusing  to  recog- 
nize a  privilege  claimed  under  the  Federal  Constitution,  laws, 
or  treaties ;  or  (3)  where  the  validity  of  a  State  law  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  been  called  in 
question  and  the  State  court  had  held  such  law  valid.*  By 
this  method  the  supremacy  of  national  law  was  to  be  secured 
without  trouble  or  vexation  to  the  States. f  The  Federal 
courts  are  to-day  arranged  on  the  same  general  plan  as 
that  outlined  in  this  famous  statute,  which  was  largely  the 
work  of  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut.  The  first  chief 
justice  appointed  was  John  Jay,  a  man  of  rare  purity  and 
sweetness  of  character,  with  good  legal  knowledge  and  a 

*  The  Constitution  provides  for  one  Supreme  Court  and  other  courts 
that  Congress  may  establish  (see  Constitution,  art.  iii).  Congress,  how- 
ever, needed  to  provide  for  the  Supreme  Court  also. 

f  See  the  Constitution,  art.  vi,  §  2. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  TIIE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


wide  experience  in  affairs  of  State.  The  peculiar  duties  of 
our  first  justices  demanded  the  wisdom  of  the  statesman 
even  more  than  the  learning  of  the  lawyer. 

Hamilton  set  about  the  task  of  bringing  order  into  the 
deranged  finances  of  the  country.  Upon  request,  he  pre- 
pared a  report  and  submitted  it  to  Congress  at  its  second 
session.  He  showed  that  the  debt  of  the  United  States  was 
about  fifty-four  million  dollars,  including  arrears  of  inter- 
est— a  vast  sum  for  that  day.  He  proposed  to 
The  public  debt.  iggue  new  Certificates  0f  indebtedness,  and  to 

receive  in  payment  the  old  evidences  of  indebtedness.  The 
new  certificates  were  to  be  issued  on  more  favorable  terms 

to  the  Government  than  the 
old.  It  was  resolved  by  Con- 
gress to  pay  in  full  the  debt 
which  we  owed  abroad;  but 
many  objected  to  paying  the 
home  debt  in  full,  because  the 
paper  had  been  so  depreciated 
that  a  payment  at  face  value 
would  simply  pour  loads  of 
dollars  into  the  hands  of  specu- 
lators who  had  bought  up  the 
old  paper.  Hamilton,  however, 
argued  for  straight  downright 
honesty,  without  distinction  of 
persons.  He  believed  that  the 
Government  promises  to  pay 
must  be  redeemed  in  full.  A 
bill  was  finally  passed  by  Con- 
gress providing  tor  the  payment  of  the  domestic  as  well  as 
the  foreign  debt  in  substantial  accord  with  Hamilton's 
suggestions. 

Hamilton  proposed  at  the  same  time  that  the  State 
debts  should  be  assumed  and  paid  by  the  National  Govern- 
ment, on  the  ground  that  they  were  actually  incurred  in 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     241 

behalf  of  the  common  weal.     This  proposal  met  with  vigor- 
ous objection,  and  a  bill  for  the  purpose  was  defeated  at  this 
session.     About  the  same  time,  however,  there 

aeTitaL  ^  was  Sreat  discussion  over  the  location  of  the 
permanent  capital.  This  seems  a  trivial  mat- 
ter, but  men  became  very  much  excited  about  it,  as  if  the 
fate  of  the  nation  were  at  stake  in  the  decision.  Finally  a 
bargain  was  struck.  Hamilton  secured  Northern  votes  for 
a  Southern  capital,  and  Jefferson  was  instrumental  in  se- 
curing Southern  votes  for  assumption  of  the  State  debts,  a 
measure  more  favored  by  the  Northern  and  Eastern  than  the 
Southern  States.  The  site  on  the  Potomac  was  soon  af- 
terward selected. 

Among  other  plans  of  Hamilton  were  the  laying  of  an 
excise  and  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank.  At  the 
final  session  of  the  First  Congress  (winter  of 
1790-'91)  such  measures  were  proposed.  There 
was  bitter  opposition  to  the  excise,  for  it  seemed  to  many 
that  the  secretary,  in  order  to  magnify  his  office  and  to  ex- 
alt national  power  unduly,  was  striving  to  obtain  all  sources 
of  taxation  for  the  Federal  Government.  The  bill  was  finally 
passed  after  a  sharp  debate.  It  provided  for  a  tax  on  liquors, 
and  it  was  humorously  suggested  tnat  it  would  be  like 
"  drinking  down  the  national  debt." 

Hamilton  advocated  a  bank,  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
be  of  assistance  to  the  Government  in  borrowing  money  and 
carrying  on  its  financial  business,  and  that  it 
would  be  of  service  in  furnishing  a  circulating 
medium.  The  plan  caused  great  discussion  in  the  House. 
Hamilton's  financial  measures  had  already  won  him  a  de- 
voted following,  but  a  strenuous  and  vigorous  opposition 
was  now  forming.  Madison  was  its  leader.  He  had  favored 
the  excise,  but  he  now  argued  strongly  against  the  bank  bill. 
The  main  argument  of  its  opponents  was  that  it  was  un- 
constitutional, that  the  Federal  Government  had  not  been 
given  the  authority  to  establish  a  corporation.     A  bill  in 


242  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

practical  agreement  with  Hamilton's  proposals  was  at  length 
carried  through  both  houses.  It  provided  for  a  bank  with 
a  capital  of  ten  million  dollars.  The  Government  was  to 
be  a  stockholder,  and  subscriptions  to  a  large  portion  of 
the  stock  were  to  be  made  in  United  States  bonds.  The 
effect  of  this  would  be  to  make  a  demand  for  the  bonds, 
and  thus  help  the  credit  of  the  Government.  All  interested 
in  the  bank  would  be  sure  to  be  interested  in  the  stability 
of  the  Government. 

Before  signing  the  bill  Washington  asked  from  the 
members  of  his  Cabinet  their  written  opinions.  The  re- 
plies of  Hamilton  and  Jefferson  are  great  State 
JSJSSlir4  Papers.  They  clearly  mark  out  doctrines  of 
two  distinct  schools  of  political  thought  and 
two  distinct  methods  of  interpreting  the  Constitution.  Jef- 
ferson, anxious  to  keep  the  central  authority  within  narrow 
limits,  argued  that  the  Government  did  not  have  the  right 
to  establish  a  bank,  because  no  such  power  had  been  ex- 
pressly granted  in  the  Constitution,  and  because  it  was  not 
necessary  for  carrying  out  any  of  the  powers  that  were 
granted.  He  thus  advocated  what  is  known  as  "  strict  con- 
struction" of  the  Constitution.  Hamilton,  on  the  other 
hand,  argued  that  the  Government  had  the  right  to  choose 
all  means  that  seemed  suitable  and  proper  for  carrying  out 
effectually  the  powers  intrusted  to  it  by  the  Constitution.* 
He  thus  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  "  implied  powers,"  and 
advocated  a  "  broad "  construction  of  the  Constitution. 
Here,  then,  were  stated  by  these  two  secretaries  fundamen- 
tal ideas  that  were  to  form  the  basic  principles  of  contend- 
ing parties. 

Before  the  end  of  Washington's  first  term  political  par- 
ties were  organized.     They  were  largely  formed  in  conse- 

*  See  the  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  8,  §  18.  The  right  of  Congress  to 
choose  means  for  carrying  out  its  power  does  not  rest  simply  on  this 
clause  of  the  Constitution,  but  is  a  reasonable  inference  from  the 
whole. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     243 

quence  of  sympathy  with  or  antagonism  to  Hamilton's 
plans,  which  plainly  enough  tended  not  simply  to  establish 
sound  financial  conditions,  but  to  give  power 
and  efficiency  to  the  central  authority.  It  was 
believed  by  many  that  the  wily  secretary  was  making  use 
of  his  position  by  various  vicious  methods  to  bring  and  hold 
together  a  monarchical  party,  and  that  repub- 
partv.ePU  CaU  ^can  institutions  were  endangered  by  the 
schemes  and  machinations  of  what  Jefferson 
called  the  "corrupt  squadron."  These  persons,  so  opposed 
to  Hamilton's  measures  and  suspicious  of  his  devices,  were 
now  crystallizing  into  a  party.  Its  leaders  were  Jefferson 
and  Madison.  It  soon  called  itself  the  Eepublican  party, 
but  was  often  stigmatized  by  its  opponents  as  democratic,  a 
word  not  then  in  good  odor  because  of  the  excesses  of  the 
French  Eevolution  committed  in  the  name  of  liberty  and 
fraternity.  It  believed  that  the  rights  of  the  States  should 
be  defended  against  encroachments  on  the  part  of  the  Na- 
tional Government.  Distrust  of  government  and  faith  in 
the  people  were  its  dearest  principles.  Although  Jeffer- 
son's suspicions  of  Hamilton's  monarchic  designs  were  quite 
unfounded,  and  much  of  this  early  opposition  to  Federal 
measures  was  unwise,  it  was  well  that  a  party  was  formed 
with  democracy  for  its  substantial  faith,  a  party  whose  aim 
was — to  use  Jefferson's  quaint  words — "  the  cherishment  of 
the  people."  The  defenders  of  the  Hamiltonian  policy  still 
called  themselves  Federalists,  the  word  assumed 
by  the  supporters  of  the  Constitution  when  it 
was  before  the  people  for  ratification.  Their  opponents 
were  often  called  Anti-Federalists,  although,  as  suggested 
above,  when  parties  were  really  formed  (1792-'93)  the  Jef- 
f  ersonian  party  was  more  properly  designated  as  Republican 
or  Democratic.  The  Federalists  were  broad  construction- 
ists, believers  in  a  strong  central  government.  They  came 
in  good  part  from  the  commercial  States.  The  Repub- 
licans were  strict  constructionists,  and  on  the  whole  were 


244  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

from  the  agricultural  States.  Industrial  conditions  of  the 
different  sections  of  the  country  did  much  to  determine 
party  beliefs  and  tendencies.  Commerce  is  essentially  gen- 
eral, not  local,  and  thus  its  followers  favored  a  strong  gen- 
eral government — a  government  that  could  insure  free  com- 
mercial intercourse  and  protect  trade. 

By  the  end  of  Washington's  first  term  it  was  plain 
enough  that  the  new  Government  had  elements  of  success 
&  tion  l  an(^  Permanence-     There  was  evidence  of  pros- 

prosperity  perity  everywhere,  of  renewed  hope,  and  of 

and  union.  business  energy.     National  parties  had  sprung 

into  existence,  and,  though  one  of  them  was  opposed  on 
principle  to  the  development  of  the  power  of  the  Federal 
Government,  the  co-operation  among  advocates  of  party 
doctrine,  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  was  a 
bond  of  real  union,  bringing  the  people  into  a  closer  and 
more  sympathetic  relation  than  had  existed  before  in  the 
era  of  the  Confederation,  when  sympathies  were  often  cut 
short  by  State  boundaries.  The  new  nation  had  evidently 
won  attention  if  not  respect  abroad,  but  its  international 
trials  are  best  considered  as  a  whole  in  connection  with 
Washington's  second  term. 

Washington  desired  to  retire  at  the  end  of  his  first  term, 
but  was  persuaded  to  accept  another  election.  The  discord 
p  ,  in  his  Cabinet,  which  had  by  this  time  become 

personal  serious,  troubled  him  very  much.     Hamilton 

enmities.  an(j  jeffers0ii,  to  use  the  hitter's  own  expres- 

sion, "were  pitted  against  each  other  like  two  fighting 
cocks."  Jefferson  thought  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
a  corrupt  and  scheming  enemy  of  republicanism,  an  in- 
triguing monarchist.  Hamilton  thought  that  the  Secretary 
of  State  was  a  demagogue,  who  cloaked  a  rankling  ambition 
under  professions  of  fear  for  popular  well-being.  Washing- 
ton's efforts  to  restore  peace  were  fruitless.  He  had  not 
known  hitherto  the  depth  and  rancor  of  party  feeling.  Co- 
lonial history  had  given  no  indication  of  such  party  organi- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     245 

zations,  and  hence  he  and  others  were  astounded  at  what 
seemed  to  be  unaccountable  ill  feeling.  But,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  differences,  though  needlessly  bitter  and  personal, 
were  natural  ones,*  and  these  two  men  were  but  representa- 
tives of  different  thoughts  and  feelings  in  the  country  at 
large.  Spite  of  all  these  party  clashings  and  personal  en- 
mities Washington  was  again  unanimously  elected.  The 
opposition  was  directed  against  Adams,  who  was,  however, 
chosen  Vice-President  by  a  good  majority. 

Without  attempting  to  follow  out  in  chronological  order 

the  events  of  Washington's  second  administration,  let  us 

see  what  the  chief  troubles  and  achievements 

The  Whisky       Were.     One  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome 

Eebellion,  . 

was  the  resistance  to  the  excise  law.  This  re- 
sistance was  especially  strong  in  western  Pennsylvania. 
The  opposition  was  formidable.  Mobs  intimidated  the  tax 
collectors,  and  even  used  tar  and  feathers  to  emphasize 
their  disapproval ;  public  meetings  denounced  the  atrocious 
interference  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  "  natural 
rights  of  man."  f  In  1794  opposition  became  rebellion. 
It  was  high  time  for  the  authorities  to  take  decisive  action. 
Fifteen  thousand  militia  were  called  out,  and,  accompanied 
by  Hamilton  himself,  they  marched  to  the  scene  of  disorder. 
Eesistance  was  hopeless,  and  it  ceased.  Even  the  distant 
frontier  was  thus  made  aware  that  a  National  Government 
was  in  existence,  and  that  it  could  enforce  its  laws.  It  is  a 
striking  proof,  however,  of  the  dangers  and  trials  that  beset 

*  It  was  inevitable  that  men  should  differ  regarding  the  power  and 
scope  of  the  new  Government ;  inevitable,  too,  that  they  should  differ 
regarding  the  trust  and  confidence  to  be  bestowed  on  the  whole  people  ; 
inevitable  that,  under  the  circumstances,  some  men  should  dread  the 
establishment  of  monarchy  and  see  visions  of  tyranny  where  danger  did 
not  exist. 

f  Whisky  actually  took  the  place  of  money  in  the  Western  country. 
A  gallon  of  whisky  was  worth  a  shilling,  and  therefore  a  tax  of  seven 
cents  a  gallon  seemed  very  severe. 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  establishment  of  the  Government,  that  three  years  had 
passed  by  before  these  steps  were  taken  to  crush  lawlessness 
in  a  few  counties  of  the  frontier. 

Most  of  the  difficulties  of  these  years  were  connected 
with  foreign  affairs.  Politically  independent  of  any  Euro- 
pean powers,  our  country  was  still  industrially 
Troubles  with  dependent.  Moreover,  the  nation  was  weak, 
and  its  power  was  not  respected  by  foreign 
governments.  England  had  long  refused  to  treat  us  as  an 
equal.  Not  till  1791  did  she  send  a  minister  to  this  coun- 
try. The  treaty  of  1783  had  not  been  fulfilled  by  either 
party.  England  retained  possession  of  the  military  posts 
on  our  Northern  and  Western  frontier  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States.  She  gave  as  her  excuse  that,  contrary 
to  the  treaty,  the  loyalists  had  been  persecuted,  and  the 
British  creditors  prevented  from  collecting  sums  due  them 
by  American  citizens.  Her  charges — at  least  during  the 
time  of  the  Confederation — had  too  much  truth  in  them ; 
but  her  main  reason  for  retaining  the  Western  posts  was 
her  desire  to  control  the  fur  trade  and  to  maintain  her  in- 
fluence over  the  Indians. 

In  1793  war  broke  out  between  France  and  England. 
This  put  the  United  States  into  an  embarrassing  position. 
War  between  ^e  were  ^ound  by  the  treaty  of  1778  to  allow 
England  and  France  certain  privileges  in  our  ports  not 
France.  granted  other  nations,  and  common  gratitude 

might  seem  to  force  us  to  her  side  as  an  active  ally.  True, 
the  French  had  not  entered  the  Revolutionary  War  so  much 
for  the  purpose  of  helping  America  as  of  injuring  England, 
but  they  seemed  to  the  men  of  that  time  generous  bene- 
factors. If  by  assisting  France  we  should  be  drawn  into 
war  with  England,  it  might  bring  complete  disaster.  The 
country  was  just  beginning  to  hold  up  its  head,  and  to  look 
prosperous  and  hopeful  after  the  trials  of  the  Confederation. 

Washington  concluded  that  we  were  at  least  morally 
justified  in  disregarding  the  French  treaty,  and  he  issued 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     247 

a  proclamation  of  neutrality.  Just  as  he  did  so  a  minister 
from  the  new  French  republic  landed  at  Charleston.  He 
began  at  once  to  fit  out  privateers  to  prey 
upon  British  commerce,  and  proceeded  to  vio- 
late the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  and  to  act  in  gen- 
eral as  if  he  were  justified  in  doing  what  he  pleased.  He 
demanded,  in  a  lofty  tone,  various  favors  from  the  Govern- 
ment, and  finally  was  so  impertinent  and  so  outrageous  in 
his  conduct  that  Washington  asked  for  his  recall.  The 
most  discouraging  thing  about  the  whole  affair  was  that 
this  fellow,  Genet,  was  hailed  as  a  hero  as  soon  as  he  landed 
on  American  soil.  Men  that  were  in  shivering  dread  lest 
Washington  or  Hamilton  should  make  himself  a  king,  were 
ready  to  pay  kingly  honors  to  this  man  whose  conduct  was 
directed  to  bringing  on  another  war  with  England,  all  in 
the  name  of  liberty,  equality,  and  the  rights  of  man.  Wash- 
ington was  actually  attacked  in  venomous  newspaper  arti- 
cles, and  held  up  as  the  enemy  of  freedom  and  the  friend  of. 
monarchy  and  corruption.  Fortunately,  the  insulting  mis- 
conduct of  Genet  *  and  the  intemperate  clamors  of  the 
French  partisans  ended  in  winning  to  the  side  of  the  Gov- 
ernment the  sober-minded  citizens  who  had  sense  enough 
to  see  the  real  situation. 

But  affairs  were   long  in  a  critical  condition.     So  ex- 
travagant in  their  actions  and  conduct  were  many  of  the 
people  that  insurrection  within  or  war  with- 
!  ngJ!  L  -         out  seemed  at  times  almost  inevitable.     Eng- 

aggressions.  ° 

land  meantime,  instead  of  wisely  seeking  to 
conciliate  and  win  us,  was  exasperating  in  the  extreme. 
American  merchantmen  on  the  high  seas  were  plundered, 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  bound  with  provisions  to 
French  ports  and  that  provisions  were  "  contraband  of  war  " ; 

*  Under  authority  from  the  French  Government,  Genet  planned  not 

only  to  cement  a  close  allianco  with  America,  but,  with  the  assistance  of 

the  frontiersmen  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  to  attack  Spain's  possessions 

in  Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  to  win  Canada  for  "  liberty  and  equality." 

17 


248 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


seamen  were  taken  from  American  vessels  and  forced  to  do 
service  on  English  frigates ;  and  in  other  ways  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  was  attacked  or  outrageously  inter- 
fered with.  All  this  was  done  under  pretense  of  right,  but 
the  Americans  felt  that  it  was  the  right  of  the  highway 
robber. 

Closely  connected  with  these  foreign  complications  were 
the  Indian  troubles  in  the  West.  Not  since  the  end  of  the 
Eevolution  had  there  been  a  good  assurance  of 
continued  peace.  The  frontier  was  kept  in 
constant  dread  of  attack,  and  the  only  wonder 
is  that  men  and  women  had  the  hardihood  to  move  across 
the  mountains  into  the  Northwestern  wilderness  to  suffer 


Indian 
hostilities 


View  of  the  Campus  Maktius,  Marietta,  Ohio,  1798. 


hardships  and  privations  and  to  imperil  their  lives.  In  1788 
a  settlement  was  made  at  Marietta  by  people  from  New 
England,  the  first  settlement  of  importance  north  of  the 
Ohio.  The  frontier,  however,  in  the  next  few  years  ex- 
tended but  little.  Detroit  and  Mackinaw  were  held  by  the 
British.  It  was  popularly  believed  that  the  Indians  were 
incited  to  hostilities  by  the  British  officers.  Though  it  is 
not  true  that  the  English  Government  was  guilty  of  such 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     249 

dastardly  conduct,  the  red  men  took  courage  from  the  fact 
that  the  frontier  forts  were  in  the  hands  of  their  former 
allies,  and  they  were  continually  led  to  look  upon  England 
as  their  steadfast  friend. 

In  1790  an  expedition  sent  out  under  General  Harmar 

to  punish  the  Indians  of  Ohio  was  utterly  routed.     The 

next  year  an  army  under  General  St.  Clair  met 

Wayne's  similar  fate.     In  1794  Washington  intrusted 

victory.  ° 

the  command  of  an  army  to  General  Anthony 
Wayne,  one  of  the  men  of  the  Revolution  upon  whom  the 
President  knew  he  could  rely.  "  Mad  Anthony,"  as  he  was 
sometimes  called,  gave  no  signs  of  harebrained  rashness. 
He  completely  defeated  the  Indians  in  a  battle  on  the  Mau- 
mee,  not  very  far  from  where  the  city  of  Toledo  now  stands. 
In  the  winter  (1795)  he  formed  the  treaty  of  Greenville 
with  the  chiefs.  This  victory  and  the  treaty  opened  up  a 
large  section  of  the  Northwest  for  settlement ;  and  emi- 
grants from  the  seacoast  States  were  soon  pouring  over  the 

mountains  to  build  new  homes  in  the  new  West. 

In  seven  years  from  the  treaty  of  Greenville 
Ohio  was  knocking  for  admission  into  the  Union — one  of 
the  most  striking  facts  in  our  history. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  year  1794  was  a  dreadful 
one.     The   Government  was  for  a  time   openly  disobeyed 

by  the  anti-excise  men  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
0*1794   yeai    coun^ry  was   inwardly  torn   by  faction,   some 

persons  upholding  England,  and  others  ready  to 
accept  the  fraternal  embrace  of  the  French  republic.  Our 
flag  was  insulted  on  the  seas  and  our  seamen  impressed. 
In  the  West  the  Indians  were  hostile,  and  were  believed  to 
be  encouraged  by  the  English,  who  still  held  possession  of 
our  frontier  forts. 

We  have  seen  how  Washington  overcame  some  of  these 
troubles.  To  come  to  an  understanding  with  England,  he 
now  sent  John  Jay  as  a  special  envoy  to  that  country. 
The  mission  was  a  delicate  one.     Failure  presumably  meant 


250  HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

war ;  and  yet  we  were  in  no  condition  to  fight.     Jay  suc- 
ceeded in  making   a   good  treaty,  the  best  that  could  be 

obtained  under  the  circumstances.     It  was  not 

fair  or  equitable  ;  England  did  not  give  us  any- 
thing like  fair  commercial  privileges,  nor  did  she  promise 
to  give  up  impressment ;  but  she  did  give  up  the  frontier 
posts,  and  agreed  to  pay  for  the  provisions  she  had  seized. 
The  United  States  promised  to  pay  debts  due  British  cred- 
itors, the  collection  of  which  had  been  hindered  in  the 
States.  The  treaty  met  with  violent  opposition  when  its 
terms  were  known  in  America.  Washington  was  vehe- 
mently abused.  Jay  was  hanged  in  effigy  and  denounced  as 
a  traitor.  Hamilton  was  stoned  when  endeavoring  to  speak 
in  behalf  of  the  treaty.  But,  with  the  exception  of  a  sin- 
gle clause,  it  was  finally  ratified  by  the  Senate.  When  the 
House  was  called  upon  to  pass  the  necessary  appropriation 
bills  for  carrying  out  the  treaty,  it  called  upon  Washington 
for  the  papers  relating  to  the  matter.  Washington  refused 
to  give  them,  on  the  ground  that  the  House  had  no  share  in 
the  treaty-making  power.  A  great  debate  ensued,  and  at 
length  the  necessary  appropriations  were  made. 

In  the  course  of  Washington's  second  term  both  Jeffer- 
son and  Hamilton  gave  up  their  offices,  and  other  changes 

took  place  in  the  Cabinet.  At  the  end  the 
Cabinet  Cabinet  was  decidedly  Federal,  containing  no 

longer  members  of  different  parties  or  repre- 
sentatives of  different  political  tendencies. 

Three  new  States  had  by  this  time  been  admitted  to  the 
Union — Vermont,  whose  territory  had  been  claimed  by  both 

New  York  and  New  Hampshire  (1791) ;  Ken- 
Important  tucky,  formed  from  what  was  the  western  part 

of  Virginia  (1792) ;  and  Tennessee  (1796).  A 
new  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  the  eleventh,  was  pro- 
posed in  1794,  but  it  was  not  adopted  till  four  years  later. 
It  resulted  from  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  de- 
clared that  a  private  individual  could  sue  a  State. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   WASHINGTON— 1789-1797.     251 


The 
Government 


The  end  of  Washington's  administration  saw  the  coun- 
try free  from  many  perils  and  on  the  high  road  to  pros- 
perity. The  new  Government  had  weathered 
severe  storms  and  had  proved  itself  efficient. 
Much  of  its  success  was  due  to  the  President's 
good  judgment,  sound  sense,  and  firmness.*  His  chief  as- 
sistants also,  especially  Hamilton,  deserve  great  credit.  Spite 
of  some  uneasiness  and  waywardness  among  the  people,  they 
had  shown  to  the  world  the  great  example  of  a  nation  or- 
ganizing a  government  in  peace  and  giving  it  obedience. 

Washington  refused  to  consider  an  election  for  a  third 
term,  and  in  September,  1796,  issued  a  farewell  address. 
This  is  a  noble  public  document.  It  deserves 
The  farewell  careful  reading  to-day,  and  in  many  ways  fits 
our  times  as  it  did  the  days  of  a  hundred  years 
ago.  He  pleaded  earnestly 
for  a  true  national  spirit  and 
for  devotion  to  country.  "  Do 
not  encourage  party  spirit, 
but  use  every  effort  to  miti- 
gate it  and  assuage  it.  .  .  . 
Observe  justice  and  faith  to- 
ward all  nations  ;  have  neither 
passionate  hatreds  nor  pas- 
sionate attachments  to  any ; 
and  be  independent  practi- 
cally of  all.  In  one  word,  be 
a  nation,  be  American,  and 
be  true  to  yourselves." 

In   the   election  that   en- 


ELECTION 
OF  179G 

Federalist  tZU 
Republican  1  I 
Divided         I       I 


*  One  can  hardly  overestimate  the  importance  of  Washington's  per- 
sonal character  upon  the  life  of  his  country.  His  wisdom  and  courage, 
his  simple  integrity,  his  tact  and  forbearance,  his  dignity  and  manli- 
ness, his  purity  and  magnanimity  of  soul,  exalted  the  nation.  Without 
him  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  Revolution  could  have  succeeded  or  the 
new  Government  been  established. 


252  niSTOKY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Bued  the  Federalists  supported  John  Adams  and  Thomas 
Pinckney,  and  the  Republicans  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Aaron  Burr.  At  that  time  the  Constitution 
provided  that  each  elector  should  vote  for  two 
persons.  The  one  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
should  be  President,  "  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  electors,"  and  the  person  having  the  next 
number  Vice-President.  Adams  and  Jefferson  were  well- 
known  men,  and  each  of  them  received  more  votes  than 
either  of  the  other  two  candidates.  Adams  was  elected 
President  and  Jefferson  Vice-President.  And  thus  these 
two  important  positions  in  the  Government  were  filled  by 
persons  of  differing  political  beliefs ;  they  were,  as  Adams 
said,  "  in  opposite  boxes."  The  consequence  was  that 
Jefferson  was  bitterly  opposed  to  most  of  the  work  of  an 
administration  in  which  he  held  the  second  position. 

References. 

Short  accounts  :  Walker,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  Chapters 
V  and  VI;  Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  136-164.  Longer 
accounts:  Lodge,  George  Washington,  Volume  II,  pp. 47-216 ;  Lodge, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  pp.  84-197;  Morse,  Thomas  Jefferson,  pp.  96- 
173;  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Volume 
I,  pp.  525  604,  Volume  II,  pp.  1-308. 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  JOHN  ADAMS— 1797-1801. 

Adams  was  a  strong  Federalist,  given,  at  this  time,  to 
ideas  somewhat  lofty  and  aristocratic.  He  had  wide  experi- 
ence in  affairs  of  state  and  had  acquired  merited 
distinction.  He  was  not  always  tactful  or  wise- 
ly forbearant  with  those  who  did  not  agree  with  him,  and 
was  at  times  headstrong,  always  proud  and  sensitive ;  but 
he  was  withal  a  sturdy  patriot  and  an  honest,  able  man. 

Jay's   treaty  did  not  put   an   end  to   foreign  troubles. 
England,  indeed,  treated  us  with  more  consideration  than 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  ADAMS— 1797-1801.     253 


before  ;  but  France  seemed  utterly  regardless  of  how  she 
abused  a  young  nation  whom  she  did  not  fear,  and  she  was 

now  wroth  with  the  United  States  because  the 
wiSance.       Government  had  come  to  terms  with  England 

without  her  august  sanction.  Monroe,  whom 
Washington  had  sent  as  a  minister  to  Paris,  was  recalled  in 
179G,  because  he  was  too  ready  to  receive  French  compli- 
ments and  too  lax  about  pressing  upon  the  Government  our 
demands  for  damages.  The 
United  States  had  long  been 
suffering  from  the  depreda- 
tions of  the  French  upon  our 
commerce.  French  war  ships 
ruthlessly  plundered  Ameri- 
can merchantmen.  They  had 
not,  on  the  whole,  done  so 
much  damage  as  the  English 
men-of-war,  but  that  was  not 
because  the  French  naval  offi- 
cers lacked  the  will  and  the 
desire,  but  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  France  was  less  powerful 
on  the  sea  than  England,  and 
was  less  capable  of  injuring 
neutral  commerce.* 

Charles  C.  Pinckney  was  sent  to  Paris  as  our  minister  to 
succeed  Monroe  ;  but,  instead  of  being  courteously  received, 
he  was  shamefully  treated  by  the  French  Government.  Our 
Government  was  given  to  understand  that  a  minister  would 
not  be  received  until  grievances  were  redressed,  as  if,  for- 
sooth, America,  not  France,  had  been  the  aggressor.  With 
the  hope  of  bringing  France  to  her  senses,  Adams  appointed 
a  commission   of   three   persons,  John    Marshall,  Elbridge 


Jffm^/dwui 


*  For  some  years  after  the  treaty  of  1794  England  did  not  injure 
our  commerce  much. 


254  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Gerry,  and  Charles  C.  Pinckney.  These  men,  instead  of 
being  treated  with  official  courtesy,  were  waited  on  in  Paris 
by  secret  messengers  sent  by  Talleyrand,  the  French  minis- 
ter, who  made  most  extraordinary  and  insulting  demands. 
One  of  their  requests  was  for  a  bribe  for  the  members  of  the 
French  Directory.  They  said  they  wanted  "  money,  a  great 
deal  of  money."  *  The  commissioners  found  their  situation 
humiliating  and  unbearable.  Marshall  and  Pinckney  left 
Paris ;  Gerry  unwisely  remained  for  a  time,  but  accomplished 
nothing. 

The  President  sent  to  Congress  the  dispatches  of  the 
commission,  April,  1798.      The  names  of  the  French  mes- 
sengers were  not  given,  but  the  letters  X,  Y,  Z 
The  X  Y  Z         supplied  their  places  ;   hence  this  whole  diffi- 

correspondenc6i 

culty  is  often  called  the  X  Y  Z  affair.  Con- 
gress and  the  country  at  large  were  amazed  and  angry  at 
the  treatment  accorded  our  envoys.  Adams  proclaimed 
that  he  would  not  send  "  another  minister  to  France 
without  assurance  that  he  would  be  received  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent 
nation." 

Preparation  was  made  for  war.     An  army  was  organized, 
and  Washington  given  the  command.     The  navy  was  in- 
creased.    Battles  were  actually  fought  at  sea. 
War  with  ^   general   war   seemed   inevitable.      But   the 

French  Government  was  readier  to  intimidate 
and  browbeat  than  to  fight.  Upon  this  great  question  of 
national  honor  the  American  people  were  no  longer  danger- 
ously divided  into  hostile  factions.  The  French  sympathies 
of  the  Republicans  were  not  strong  enough  to  make  them 
accept  insults  willingly. 

*  "  Said  he  [M.  X] :  '  Gentlemen,  you  do  not  speak  to  the  point :  it  is 
money ;  it  is  expected  you  will  offer  money.'  We  said  we  had  spoken 
to  that  point  very  explicitly;  we  had  given  an  answer.  'No,'  said  he, 
1  you  have  not.  What  is  your  answer  ? '  We  replied  :  '  It  is  no ;  no ; 
no ;  not  a  sixpence.' "     (Report  of  the  commission.) 


ADMINISTRATION    OF  JOHN  ADAMS-1797-1801.     255 

When  it  was  evident  that  America  was  ready  to  fight, 
Talleyrand,  the  wily  minister,  whose  methods  and  words 
had  been  so  exasperating,  thought  it  best  to 
Prance  retracts.  try  different  tactics.  He  suggested  in  a  round- 
about way  that  France  would  be  ready  to  receive  a  minister 
from  the  United  States  "  with  the  respect  due  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  free,  independent,  and  powerful  nation." 
This  declaration  of  penitence  was  not  so  open  and  straight- 
forward as  might  have  been  desired,  but  Adams  wisely  de- 
cided to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  a  commission  was  appoint- 
ed to  proceed  to  France  and  settle  the  difficulties.  This 
was  successfully  accomplished,  and  friendly  relations  were 
thus  re-established. 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  Washington's  administra- 
tion, parties  had  differed  with  regard  to  foreign  policy. 
.  The  Federalists  were  eager  to  keep  on  good 

try  to  crush  terms  with  England;  they  were  called  "the 
opposition.  British    faction"    by    their     opponents,    and 

charged  with  truckling  to  the  interest  of  that  country.  As 
we  have  seen,  the  Federalists  were  specially  strong  in  New 
England,  and  the  commercial  interests  of  this  section 
prompted  them  to  wish  to  keep  out  of  trouble  with  the 
country  whose  power  on  the  sea  seemed  invincible.  The 
Republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  had  fellow-feeling  for 
France.  Even  the  extravagances  of  the  French  Revolution 
did  not  shock  some  of  them.  England  was  to  them  the 
abode  of  despotism,  France  the  home  of  liberty.  This  sym- 
pathy was  not  unnatural,  but,  carried  to  an  extreme  by  the 
more  excitable  element  of  the  people,  it  had  caused  trouble. 
There  were  in  the  country  many  men  who  were  worthless 
fellows,  foreigners  who  rejoiced  in  railing  at  the  Govern- 
ment, ridiculing  Adams,  and  indulging  in  general  abuse  of 
those  in  authority.  These  men  were  in  the  Republican 
party ;  but  that  party  should  not  be  judged  by  the  follies  of 
its  most  foolish  members.  The  X  Y  Z  disclosures  for  a 
time   put   an   end   to   faction.     All   reasonable   men  were 


250  HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

united  in  their  readiness  to  defend  America  against  insult. 
The  Federalists  felt  that  now  was  the  time  to  act,  that 
"  democracy "  was  permanently  discredited,  that  false  and 
malicious  criticism  of  Government  should  be  made  a  crime. 
They  decided  to  take  advantage  of  their  power  to  crush 
factious  opposition.  With  this  end  in  view  three  acts  were 
passed  (1798)  :  1.  The  Naturalization  Act 
IditSlaws!  lengthened  the  time  of  residence  required  be- 
fore a  foreigner  could  become  a  citizen.  2. 
The  Alien  Act  empowered  the  President  to  exclude  dan- 
gerous foreigners  from  the  country.  3.  The  Sedition  Act 
made  it  a  crime  to  print  or  publish  "  any  false,  scandalous, 
and  malicious  writings  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  either  house  of  the  Congress,  or  the  Presi- 
dent, with  intent  to  defame  them  or  to  bring  them  into 
disrepute."  The  last  two  laws  were  dangerous  in  their  na- 
ture. The  Sedition  Act  might  well  be  so  enforced  as  to 
make  all  criticism  of  governmental  action  a  crime. 

These  laws  were  vigorously  denounced  by  the  Eepub- 
licans  in  Congress  as  tyrannical  and  unconstitutional,  as 
laws  that  "  would  have  disgraced  the  age  of 
Virginia  and  Gothic  barbarity."  When  they  had  been 
resolutions.  passed,  the  party  leaders  decided  that  a  formal 
protest  must  be  made.  The  mode  chosen  was 
unfortunate.  The  Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky, 
each  passed  a  series  of  resolutions  condemning  the  laws  as 
unconstitutional  and  void,  and  declaring  the  right  of  the 
States  to  interpose  and  to  maintain  their  rights.  These 
resolutions  came  from  distinguished  authors.  Madison 
drew  up  the  Virginia  resolutions,  and,  though  Jefferson's 
name  was  for  a  time  hidden,  he  was  the  real  author  of  those 
of  Kentucky.  As  to  how  we  are  to  read  these  instruments 
scholars  may  yet  differ.  Madison  in  later  years  indignantly 
denied  that  he  had  meant  to  advocate  the  doctrine  that 
a  single  State  could  declare  void  an  act  of  the  National 
Government  and  prevent  its  enforcement  within  the  limits 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  ADAMS— 1797-1801.     257 

of  such  State  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  doctrine  of 
"nullification  "  and  the  related  doctrine  of  secession  did  in 
course  of  time  draw  encouragement  and  sustenance  from 
these  resolutions.* 

When  the   war  cloud  blew  over,  the  Federalists  were 
left  in  an  unenviable  plight.     The  expenses  of  the  Govern- 
ment had  been  materially  increased,  a  direct  tax 

th^FderaUsta  nac*  Deen  leyiec^  an(*  acts  unnecessarily  harsh 
had  been  placed  on  the  statute  books.  More 
over,  the  party  itself  was  divided.  Many  were  opposed  to 
Adams  on  personal  grounds ;  they  believed  that  his  readi- 
ness to  treat  with  France  was  disloyalty  to  the  party. 
Adams  found  it  necessary  to  reorganize  his  Cabinet,  because 
some  of  its  members  looked  to  Hamilton  as  their  leader 
and  guide.  This  factional  bitterness  was  sure  to  tell 
against  the  Federalists  in  the  election.  In  addition  to  all 
this  was  the  fact  that  the  people  were  really  at  heart  demo- 
cratic, and  the  mild,  hopeful  principles  of  Jefferson  were 
more  to  their  liking  than  the  sterner,  repressive  teachings 
of  the  party  whose  task  it  had  been  to  put  the  Government 
in  working  order. f 

*  The  Virginia  resolutions  declared  that  "this  Assembly  .  .  . 
views  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  as  resulting  from  the 
compact  to  which  the  States  are  parties,  .  .  .  and  that  in  case  of  a 
deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers,  not 
granted  by  the  said  compact,  the  States  .  .  .  have  the  right  and  are 
in  duty  bound  to  interpose  for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil  and 
for  maintaining  within  their  limits  the  authorities,  rights, 'and  liberties 
appertaining  to  them."  The  first  series  of  Kentucky  resolutions  de- 
clared that  "  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of 
infractions  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress";  while  the  second 
series  said  "  that  a  nullification  by  those  sovereignties  [the  States],  of 
all  unauthorized  acts  ...  is  the  rightful  remedy."  It  is  now  well  de- 
cided that,  although  the  Central  Government  has  only  the  authority 
given  by  the  Constitution,  it  can  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  authority  so 
given.     The  Supreme  Court  is  final  judge. 

f  In  the  autumn  of  1800  Congress  assembled  for  the  first  time  at 
Washington.     It  was  then  a  rude  town  of  about  five  hundred  people. 


258  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  Republican  candidates  were  the  same  as  in  1796, 
Jefferson  and  Burr.  The  Federalists  put  forward  Adams 
and  Charles  0.  Pinckney.  The  Republicans 
were  successful.  The  result,  however,  was  not 
what  they  had  expected.  Both  of  their  candidates  had  re- 
ceived the  same  number  of  votes,  and  thus  the  election  was 
thrown  into  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  Federalists 
were  in  the  majority  there.  To  many  of  these  men  Jeffer- 
son seemed  not  only  the  chief  enemy  of  their  party,  but  a 
dangerous  man ;  they  therefore  voted  for  Burr.  According 
to  the  Constitution  the  vote  was  by  States.  Out  of  sixteen 
States,  eight  voted  for  Jefferson,  six  for  Burr,  and  two  were 
evenly  divided.  The  balloting  continued  several  days,  until 
it  was  feared  that  no  election  would  take  place,  and  that 
some  extra  constitutional  device  must  be  resorted  to ;  but, 
fortunately,  patriotism  and  sense  finally  overcame  partisan- 
ship, and  Jefferson  was  elected  (February  17,  1801).  Burr 
was  a  man  utterly  without  principle  and  wholly  selfish. 
He  was  practiced  in  the  worst  arts  of  political  management. 
His  election  as  Vice-President  was  bad  enough ;  had  the 
Federalists  succeeded  in  making  him  President,  it  would 
have  been  the  crowning  shame  of  partisanship.  In  order 
to  avoid  in  the  future  such  trouble  as  this,  Congress  pro- 
posed the  twelfth  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  and  it 
was  adopted  by  the  States  (1804).  It  provided  that  the 
electors  should  cast  a  ballot  for  President,  and  a  separate 
ballot  for  Vice-President. 

By  the  end  of  Adams's  administration  parties  were 
formed  and  organized  as  they  were  to  remain  without 
much  change  for  some  years.  Hamilton's  financial  meas- 
ures had  attracted  into  the  Federal  party  the  commercial 

With  few  exceptions  the  houses  were  huts.  The  inhabitants  were  negroes, 
or  idlers  who  expected  to  get  rich  at  once  from  the  sale  of  their  lands. 
It  was  a  gloomy,  unpromising  place.  "  We  want  nothing  here,"  said 
Gouverneur  Morris,  "  but  houses,  cellars,  kitchens,  well  informed  men, 
amiable  women,  and  other  trifles  of  this  kind  to  make  our  city  perfect." 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JOHN  ADAMS— 1797-1801.     259 

classes  of  the  North.  All  the  elements  of  society  whose 
chief  desire  was  stability  and  strength  found  their  way  into 
the  party  that  was  seeking  to  give  force  and  character  to 
the  National  Government.  The  task  of  the  Federal  party 
had  been  to  establish  the  Government  and  to  bring  about 
order  and  system.  When  this  was  accomplished  its  useful- 
ness was  in  large  measure  over,  and  it  gave  way  to  the  Ke- 
publican  party. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  1G4-175  ; 
Walker,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  pp.  137-168  ;  Morse,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Chapter  XII  ;  Schouler,  Thomas  Jefferson,  pp.  177-198  ; 
Magruder,  John  Marshall,  Chapter  VII  (for  the  French  mission)  ; 
Morse,  John  Adams,  pp.  265-311  ;  Lodge,  Alexander  Hamilton,  pp. 
194-236.  Longer  accounts:  Schouler,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  341- 
500  ;  McMaster,  History,  Volume  II,  pp.  308-533.  For  the  presi- 
dential election,  see  Stanwood,  History  of  the  Presidency,  Chapter  V. 


Reception  <>f  Washington  at  Trenton,  \.  J.,  April  21, 

ON  His  Way  TO  Mis  [nAUQURATION. 

From  the  Columbian  Magazine  of  May,  1789. 


ITS!) 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Supremacy  of  the  Republicans — Foreign  Complications- 
War— 1801-1817. 


Jefferson's 
doctrines. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THOMAS  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809. 

The  new  President  was  a  man  of  strong  parts,  with  a 
great  faculty  of  winning  men  and  of  filling  them  with  his 
own  ideas  and  hopes.  When  positive  action 
was  necessary  he  was  at  times  weak,  and  was 
given  to  idealizing  when  thje  actual  should 
have  occupied  his  attention.  But  his  ideals  were  on  the 
whole  noble  and  wise,  for  he  seemed  to  foresee  the  coming 
life  of  his  country.     He  was  bitterly  opposed  to  anything 

that  might  fasten  upon  this 
young  land  the  burdens  under 
which  the  people  of  Europe 
suffered.  America  was  for 
man ;  and  if  man  were  to 
make  the  most  of  himself,  he 
must  not  be  oppressed  by  a 
smothering  upper  crust  of  no- 
bility, by  heavy  taxes  that  con- 
sumed his  substance,  by  big  ar- 
mies and  navies,  by  a  huge  and 
expensive  government.  War, 
too,  was  to  be  avoided.  "  Peace 
is  our  passion,"  he  declared. 
The  essence  of  Jeffersonism  is 
contained  in  the  thought  that 
America  means  opportunity. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809.       261 

In  carrying  out  the  policy  of  his  administration  Jeffer- 
son was  ably  assisted  by  Madison,  his  Secretary  of  State, 
and  by  Albert  Gallatin,  his 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Up  to  this  time  the  Republi- 
can party  had  been  opposed 
to  an  extension  of  the  powers 
of  the  National  Government. 
But  now  that  they  were  in 
power  the  Constitution  was 
broadly  construed,  and  much 
was  done  to  increase  the 
strength  of  the  nation  and  to 
bind  its  parts  together. 

Since  the  time  of  the  Rev- 
olution the  Mississippi  ques- 
tion had  been  of  great  im- 
portance. That  great  river, 
with    its    tributaries,   formed 

highways  to  the  sea  for  the  people  west  of  the 
The  Mississippi  mountains.       To    float   their    heavy   flatboats 

question,  ,    J 

down  to  New  Orleans  was  an  easier  task  than 
to  carry  burdens  by  the  long  route  overland  to  the  cities  of 
the  Atlantic.  It  seems  strange,  but  it  is  an  important  fact 
in  Western  and  national  history,  that  until  the  days  of 
canals  and  railroads  the  Western  people  faced  southward 
rather  than  eastward.* 

The  West  was  growing.  Already  (1803)  there  were  three 
States  beyond  the  mountains,  Ohio  having  been  just  ad- 
mitted. To  the  man  who  could  imagine  a  tithe  of  the  fu- 
ture growth  of  the  country,  the  possession  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  seemed  a  simple  necessity.  "  There  is  one 
spot,"  said  Jefferson,  "  the  possessor  of  which  is  our  natural 


(yVU>&i7f~Ca' 


aZZ+O- 


*  A  very  clear  account  of  the  Mississippi  question  is  to  be  found  in 
How  to  Study  and  Teach  History,  by  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  chap,  xx, 


262  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

and  habitual  enemy."     That  spot  was  New  Orleans,  and  Jef- 
ferson fully  realized  that  sooner  or  later  we  must  possess  it. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  by  the  treaty  of  1783  Spain 
obtained  possession  of  the  Floridas,  which  had  been  held  by 
England  for  twenty  years.      She   also   owned 

^sTana.tain8  the  land  west  of  the  MississiPP^  including  the 
land  at  the  mouth  of  that  river.*  The  United 
States  held  nothing  at  that  place  south  of  the  thirty-first 
parallel.  Now  in  1800,  by  a  secret  treaty,  Spain  ceded 
Louisiana  to  France.  Just  what  Louisiana  was  is  uncer- 
tain, but  it  certainly  included  New  Orleans  and  a  vast  terri- 
tory to  the  west.  Not  for  some  time  was  this  secret  trans- 
fer discovered.  When  it  was  found  out,  it  was  time  to 
act.  Spain,  in  this  point  of  advantage,  was  bad  enough; 
but  France  would  never  do ;  she  was  too  enterprising  and 
strong.  To  make  matters  worse,  the  Spanish  authorities  at 
New  Orleans  deprived  the  Americans  of  the  right  they  had 
had  of  depositing  their  goods  there.  Something  had  to  be 
done,  or  the  West  would  not  keep  the  peace. 

Jefferson  took  steps  to  purchase  New  Orleans  and  West 
Florida.  Monroe  was  appointed  special  envoy  for  the  pur- 
pose. Before  he  reached  Paris  Talleyrand  had 
The  Louisiana  SUggegted  to  Livingston,  the  resident  minister, 
the  possibility  of  a  great  bargain,  and  after 
Monroe's  arrival  a  treaty  was  signed  whereby  France  sold 
Louisiana  to  the  United  States  for  about  $15,000,000  (April, 
1803).     The  boundaries,  as  we  have  already  said,  were  in- 

*  Spain  insisted  for  many  years  after  1783  that  she  owned  the  terri- 
tory as  far  north  as  the  northern  boundary  of  the  old  province  of  West 
Florida,  a  line  through  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo.  In  1795  it  was  agreed 
that  the  thirty-first  parallel  should  be  the  southern  limit  of  the  United 
States  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Appalachicola.  Spain  at  the 
same  time  granted  to  the  Americans  the  right  to  deposit  goods  at  New 
( Orleans  and  to  export  them  without  paying  duty.  As  the  West  grew  in 
population  the  desire  increased  to  hold  the  mouths  of  the  streams  that 
rose  in  American  territory  and  flowed  southward  into  the  Gulf. 


18 


•.v,l 


IIISTOKY    OF   THE    AMKKKWN    NATION. 


definite.  Napoleon  remarked,  with  his  eustomarj  running, 
tluil  if  mi  obsourity  did  not  exist  about  the  boundary  11 
would  bo  well  to  make  one.  The  purehaso  eortainly  in- 
Oluded  New  Orleans,  and  so  nine!)  of  the  territory  west  of 
the  Mississippi  as  luv  north  oi   the  Old    Spanish  possessions, 

south  of  t lie  English  possessions,  and  east  of  the  Rookj 

Mountains;  m  other  words,  it  v>:is  the  western  half  Of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  Tho  United  States  elaiined  West 
Florida  also,  hut    probably  wron:-.  fully.      It  was  taken   later, 

boweyer,  under  claim  of  title  (1810  18).* 

There  wore  hoiiio  doubts   ill  JolTorson's  mind   as   to   the 

constitutionality  of  purchasing  and  annexing  the  territory. 

To  o\o  so  was  eertainly  contrary  tO  the  doetrme 

liVUy  l)t  of  stnet  construction  oi  the  (  onstitution  whioh 

ft«»»«>x.vUou.  JolTorson  had  advocated  when  in  opposition. 
Tho  groat  majority  of  the  Republican  party,  howeyer,  did 

not    think    tho  art    illegal.      The    l-Vderalist  s   opposed    it    on 

the -round  that  the  treaty  provided  tor  fche  admission  of 

now  States  from  tho  territory  so  annexed.  Both  parties, 
therefore,  agreed   thai    the  United  States  as  a  nation  eould 

acquire  territory*! 

Thus  t ho  territory  of  the  United  States  was  more  than 
doubled.      Louisiana  contained   0T0T  800,000  square  miles. 

It     was    part     of    the    great     Mississippi    Yalle\. 

l,H  mmulln*"'  Tho  lu>:ir(  of  tho  oo^tinent,  bound  together  bj 
rivers  into  a  single  geograpbio  wltolo,  fell  to  t  lu>  now  re 
puhlie.      Nothing  else  eould   ho  done  so  likely  to  insure  per- 

*  Wo  look  Kranoo's  litle  Louisiana  with  tho  oxtont  that  it  "has 
In  the  bftndl  Ol  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  l^ranoo  possossod  it,  and 
rooh  as  it  should  be  fiftor  the  treaties  Bubtaquantlj  intend  Into  b« 
t«.vn  Spain  and  Othor  States."  On  tho  basis  of  those  words  we  laid 
claim  to  Klorida  us  far  oast  as  tho  Pordido,  on  tho  ground  that  Loutll 

ana  in  tht  handa  >>f  Prano«  had  extended  thus  far.    This.it  must  be 

said,  was  an  afterthought  on  I  iv illusion's  part,  ;>iwl  m  tho  light  of  all 
tho  ovidonoo  must  K>  oonsidorod  an  unjust  olaim. 

f  Tho  right  to  annex  torriton  was  afterward  uphold  l>y  the  Supreme 
Court      Am.  Ins.  i\>.  r.  I  anter.  t   Peters.  Ml. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF   JKFFKRSON     1801    1800. 

pot  mil  union,  Geography  it  sol  f  taught  tho  inevitable  lesson. 
Moreover,  t ho  party  of  striol  construction  had  done  tho  not, 
and  thus  had  committed  itself  to  i  broad  Interpretation  of 

the  Constitution  and  to  a  liberal  conception  of  tho  nation's 
greatness  and  destiny. 

In  tho  meantime  internal  politics  had  not  been  quiet 
Just  before  Adams  left  ottioo  the  Federalists  had   passed  an 

act  creating  a  number  of  new  judgeships  and 
180?"?^  ^tending  tlu>  judicial  system.     The  new  places 

thus  provided  were  all  tilled  with  Federalists. 
It  was  reported  that  Adams  on  the  last  da\  o\'  his  admims 
(ration  was  busy  up  to  midnight  tilling  fat  otVteos  with  his 
own  party  followers.  The  Uepuhlieans,  upon  getting  into 
power,  repealed  the  act  which  created  the  new  judicial 
otlices,  and  tin1  judges  were  thus  deprived  of  their  positions. 
it  was  claimed  by  tho  Federalists  that  this  violated  tho 
Constitution,  which  provided  that  judges  were  to  hold  ottioo 
during  good  behavior.  There  was  great  ill  fooling  on  both 
sides.    Out  of  this  same  matter  arose  an  interesting  law  suit. 

A  man  named  Marburv  had  been  Appointed  to 
Marl.ury  vb.  ^  o|Vuv  ,)y  Adaius,  bul  l,ls  commission  had  not 
Mmliaon. 

boon  delivered.     Ho  asked   the  Supremo  Court 

for  an  order  directing  Madison,  .lolTorson's  Secretary  of 
Stale,  to  give  him  t  ho  commission.  This  the  Oourt  refused 
to  do  on  tho  ground  that  the  writ  ho  asked  for  could  not  be 
issued  in  a  suit  begun  in  tin*  Supreme  Court,  booauso  tho 
Constitution  did  not  give  the  Court  such  power.  This  was 
a  very  important  case,  because  it  declared  void  a  part  oi 
the  judicial'}'  act  o\'  I  iS',»,  and  it  was  the  first  clear  assertion 
by  the  Supreme  Court  that  it  could  declare  void  an  net  of 
Congress. 

The  judges  of  the  United  states  irere  at  this  time  all 

Federalists.,  It  irritated  tho  Republicans  to  think  that 
their  opponents,  although  beaten  at  tin*  polls,  bad,  as  it 
were,  retired  Into  the  judicial  department,  where  they 
might,    interpret    the    Constitution    as    limy   chose.     Judge 


266  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Pickering,   a   district  judge  in   New  Hampshire,   was  im- 
peached and  removed  from  office.     The  offense  charged  was 
drunkenness    and    unseemly   conduct   on   the 

The  judiciary      bench.     He  seems  to  have  been  insane,  and  in- 
attacked.  ...  . 

capable  of  performing  his  duties.     More  serious 

attacks  were  made  on  the  courts.     Some  of  the  men  on  the 
bench   were   disagreeable  to   the   Eepublicans   because   of 

their  narrow  partisanship.  One 
of  these,  Judge  Chase,  was  im- 
peached by  the  House,  but  the 
Senate  did  not  convict  him 
(1805).  No  doubt  some  of 
Chase's  utterances  were  annoy- 
ing and  out  of  taste,  but  the 
Federalists  rightly  considered 
this  impeachment  as  a  dangerous 
interference  with  the  independ- 
ence of  the  judiciary. 

After  the  failure  of  the  Chase 
impeachment  the  Court  was 
never  again  directly  attacked 
by  the  political  branches  of  the 
Government.  Jefferson  declared, 
somewhat  mournfully,  that  im- 
peachment was  but  a  "  scarecrow."  For  many  years  the 
Supreme  Court  remained  a  Federalist  stronghold.  John 
Marshall  *  was  the  greatest  judge  in  our  history,  and  this 
was  not  simply  because  he  was  a  great  lawyer — other  men 

*  Marshall  was  chief  justice  from  1801  to  1835.  Story  was  appoint- 
ed in  1811.  Mr.  Bryce  thus  speaks  of  Marshall:  "It  is  scarcely  an  ex- 
aggeration to  call  him,  as  an  eminent  American  jurist  has  done,  a 
second  maker  of  the  Constitution.  .  .  .  Marshall  was,  of  course,  only 
one  among  seven  judges,  but  his  majestic  intellect  and  the  elevation 
of  his  character  gave  him  such  an  ascendancy  that  he  found  himself 
only  once  in  a  minority  on  a  constitutional  question."  (The  American 
Commonwealth,  vol.  i,  p.  374,  first  American  edition.) 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809.        267 

have  equaled  him  in  that  respect — but  because  he  was 
a  statesman  of  high  order,  and,  with  marvelous  ability  and 
insight,  comprehended  and  interpreted  the 
Coh^rt.Upreme  fundamental  law  of  the  state  in  accord  with 
its  deepest  needs  and  purposes.  Under  his 
influence  and  guidance  the  Court  was  raised  to  a  position 
of  great  dignity  and  power.  Judge  Story  was  likewise  a 
great  jurist,  and  did  much  to  establish  the  dignity  of  this 
branch  of  our  Government.  The  respect  which  the  people 
came  to  feel  for  the  Court  and  their  readiness  to  abide  by 
its  decisions  was  one  of  the  most  encouraging  and  whole- 
some features  of  our  national  life. 

The  Barbary  States  of  North  Africa  were  in  these  days 
nests  of  pirates.  The  European  powers  were  accustomed 
to  pay  them  tribute  in  order  that  their  mer- 
ar  ary  war.  chant  yessels  might  not  be  molested.  The 
American  Government  had  entered  upon  the  same  practice. 
Cargoes  of  presents  were  sent  now  and  again  to  appease  the 
greed  of  these  scourges  of  the  ocean.  Their  demands  be- 
came so  exorbitant  that  our  Government  at  last  found  it 
better  to  fight  than  gently  submit  to  insult  and  robbery. 
In  1801  a  small  fleet  was  sent  to  the  Mediterranean,  which 
in  1802  was  followed  by  an  imposing  squadron.  The  Amer- 
ican navy  won  the  honor  of  teaching  these  robber  nations 
that  they  must  behave  themselves,  and  that  blackmailing 
must  cease. 

As  the  next  election  approached  it  seemed  quite  plain 
that  the  Eepublicans  had  gained  a  secure  hold  on  the  coun- 
The  New  ^ry*     ^e  federalists,  now  confined  almost  en- 

England  tirely  to  New  England,  were  greatly  disheart- 

conspiraoy.  ened  at  the  prospect.  Many  seemed  to  believe 
that  the  country  was  on  the  brink  of  destruction  because 
of  the  misdeeds  of  the  party  in  power.  They  believed  that 
democracy  would  soon  cause  the  overthrow  of  all  respect- 
able government.  Some  of  the  more  hot-headed  among 
them  actually  discussed  in  secret  the  advisability  of  dissolv- 


268  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ing  the  Union.  Aaron  Burr,  whose  foul  ambition  could 
ever  be  relied  on,  was  to  be  used  as  a  tool  by  these  conspira- 
tors, and  one  of  the  first  steps  was  to  try  to  secure  his  elec- 
tion as  governor  of  New  York.  Hamilton,  who  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  whole  treasonable  scheme,  used  all  his  influ- 
ence against  it,  and  it  was  due  to  his  opposition,  in  no  small 
measure,  that  the  intrigue  was  a  failure  and  Burr  was  de- 
feated. Burr  thereupon  challenged  Hamilton 
^Wl  to  a  duel  and  killed  him  (1804).  The  treason- 
able conspiracy,  for  the  time  at  least,  died  out. 
A  few  years  later  there  seems  to  have  been  a  renewal  of 
these  whispered  plots  among  some  of  the  more  bitter  Feder- 
alist partisans.  The  great  majority  of  the  New  England 
people  were  never  guilty  of  the  crime  or  folly  of  planning 
the  destruction  of  the  Union. 

Hamilton's  death  startled   and   shocked  the  Northern 

people,  and  had  its  effect  in  doing  away  with  the  brutal 

practice  of   settling   personal    disputes    upon 

Hamilton.  M  the  fieM  of  honor/,     BmT  was  inaicted  for 

murder  and  fled  the  State,  followed  by  the  execration  of 
the  public.  This  awful  tragedy  is  the  most  dramatic  epi- 
sode in  the  early  history  of  our  Union.  Hamilton  had  in 
reality  offered  up  his  life  for  his  country.  He  had  served 
her  well,  and  perhaps  this  was  not  an  inappropriate  close  of 
a  great  career.  With  a  wonderful  capacity  for  government 
and  the  tasks  of  civil  administration,  with  a  strong  grasp  of 
political  principles  and  a  profound  knowledge  of  public 
law,  gifted  with  financial  skill  of  a  high  order,  and  han- 
dling details  with  as  much  ease  as  he  comprehended  systems, 
he  stands  forth  as  one  of  the  greatest  constructive  states- 
men of  his  generation. 
Election  of  In   the   election  of  1804   tne    Kepublicans 

supported  Jefferson  for  President  and  George 
Clinton  for  Vice-President,  while  the  Federalists  voted  for 
Charles  C.  Pinckney  and  Rufus  King.  The  result  of  the 
contest  was  an  overwhelming  victory  for  the  Republicans. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809.       269 

The  Federalists  cast  but  fourteen  electoral  votes,  carrying 
only  Connecticut  and  Delaware,  and  getting  two  out  of  the 
nine  votes  of  Maryland. 

Disappointed  in  his  ambitions  in  the  East,  Burr  now  en- 
tered upon  a  desperate  undertaking  in  the  West  (1805-'6). 
Exactly  what  his  plans  were  is  somewhat  un- 

The  Burr  certain.     Perhaps  he  hardly  knew  himself  what 

conspiracy!  x 

he  hoped  to  do.  Indeed,  at  different  times  and 
to  different  persons  his  plans  assumed  different  aspects.  If 
he  was  intent  upon  attacking  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  he 
also  hoped  for  power  and  grandeur  as  the  head  of  a  Western 
empire.  Possibly  the  story  is  not  ill  told  in  a  le 'ter  written 
at  the  time  by  one  who  was  in  the  secret :  "  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, the  State  of  Ohio,  the  four  Territories  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Ohio,  with  part  of  Georgia  and  Carolina,  are  to 
be  bribed  with  the  plunder  of  the  Spanish  countries  west  of 
us  to  separate  from  the  Union."  It  was  a  wild  and  foolish 
plan,  such  as  could  be  begotten  only  in  the  brain  of  a  man 
who  was  so  devoid  of  principle  and  patriotism  himself  that 
he  could  not  appreciate  such  qualities  in  others.  He  inter- 
ested many  persons  in  his  conspiracy,  chief  among  whom 
was  General  Wilkinson,  Governor  of  the  Louisiana  Terri- 
tory. Burr  was  at  length  arrested  and  tried  for  treason 
(1807) ;  but  he  was  not  convicted,  because  it  could  not  be 
proved  *  that  he  had  actually  levied  war  upon  the  United 
States. 

The  great  West,  which  had  been  purchased  in  1803,  was 
an    unknown   wilderness.      Some    French   explorers   years 

before  had  crossed  the  plains,  but  little  or 
oTPike^0118       nothing  was  now  known   about  the   country. 

In  the  summer  of  1805  Lieutenant  Pike  made  a 
journey  of  exploration  up  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  He  went  as 
far  north  as  Leech  Lake,  and  notified  British  and  Indian 

*  The  Constitution  declares  that  "  treason  against  the  United  States 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort."     (Constitution,  art.  iii,  sec.  3.) 


270 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


occupants  of  the  territory  that  they  were  under  American 
rule.  The  next  year  he  went  from  St.  Louis  to  the  West. 
He  penetrated  even  into  the  mountains  of  Colorado  and 
New  Mexico,  and  gave  his  name  to  Pike's  Peak  as  a  per- 
manent monument  of  his  expedition.  In  1803  Jefferson, 
eager  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the  great  dominion  he 

had  purchased,  sent  out  Meriwether  Lewis  and 
OkA™ ^      william  Clark  to  make  explorations  in  the  far 

West.*  They  made  their  way  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Missouri,  crossed  the  great  divide,  and  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  there  they  saw  "  the 


ROUTE  OF  j Q 

LEWIS  AND  CLAKK 


waves  like  small  mountains  rolling  out  in  the  ocean."  They 
had  reached  the  goal  of  American  ambition.  The  journey 
to  the  coast  and  return  required  more  than  two  years. 

These  Western  expeditions  were  evidences  of  American 
enterprise,  but  they  could  bring  very  little  immediate  result. 
American  skill  and  independent  thought  were 
beginning,  however,  to  show  themselves  in 
other  fields  than  exploration.  On  August  17,  1807,  Robert 
Fulton  put  his  steamboat,  the  Clermont,  to  the  test.     Before 


The  steamboat. 


*  Even  before  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  Jefferson  had  taken  a 
practical  interest  in  the  exploration  of  the  West. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809.        271 

a  crowd  of  onlookers  the  little  craft  slowly  made  its  way  at 
the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour  against  the  current  of  the 
Hudson  Kiver.  This  is  an  important  date  in* our  history. 
In  a  few  years  steamboats  plied  up  and  down  the  Western 
rivers.  It  was  no  longer  necessary  to  float  down  to  New 
Orleans  and  plod  wearily  back  by  land,  or  to  pole  the  heavy 
flatboat  back  hundreds  of  miles  against  a  stubborn  current. 
The  whole  West  with  its  network  of  rivers  could  now  be 
traversed.  Emigrants  from  the  East  thus  found  their  way 
to  new  homes ;  the  great  resources  of  the  continent  were 
opened.  In  1811  a  steamboat  was  built  at  Pittsburg,  and 
descended  to  New  Orleans.  In  1818  the  Walk-in-the- 
Water  made  a  voyage  from  Buffalo  to  Detroit.*  For  the 
first  time  the  American  people  were  given  means  to  conquer 
the  continent. 

During  Jefferson's   second  administration  the  United 

States  was  beset  with  many  troubles  in  its  relations  with 

England  and  France.     These  two  nations,  it 

England  and       w{\\  ke   remembered,  had  begun   to   fight   in 

±  ranee  at  war.  °  ° 

1793,  and  the  contest  was  still  waging.  There 
had  been  a  troubled  peace  for  about  a  year  after  the  treaty 
of  Amiens  (1802),  but  now  the  war  was  being  carried  on 
with  renewed  vehemence.  The  English  felt  that  their 
safety  and  independence  as  a  nation  were  at  stake.  They 
were  desperately  in  earnest.  Napoleon's  victorious  career 
on  the  Continent  had  given  rise  to  fears  that  he  would  es- 
tablish a  European  empire  and  crush  all  that  were  not  sub- 
missive to  his  will.  He  hated  with  a  profound  hatred  the 
little  island  that  stood  doggedly  in  the  way  of  his  lawless 
ambitions.  Neither  nation  was  in  a  mood  to  consider  the 
rights  of  a  neutral  state.  Each  sought  to  make  the  most 
out  of  America,  the  young  republic,  whose  power  was  not 


*  An  interesting  account  of  the  steamboat  will  be  found  in  McMas- 
ter,  History,  vol.  iv,  pp.  397-407 ;  or  Adams,  History,  vol.  iv,  p.  135, 
and  vol.  ix,  pp.  167-172. 


2Y2  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

dreaded,  and  who  seemed  by  her  carrying  trade  to  be  the 
only  nation  profiting  by  the  war. 

In  1805  England  decided  that,  contrary  to  her  previous 
policy,  goods    from    the   French    colonies   transported  in 
American  ships  could  be  seized,  even  though 
upon  American    they  had  been  landed  in  the  United  States  and 
commerce.  reshipped.*     This  was  a  serious  blow  to  Amer- 

ican commerce,  which  had  been  thriving  in  this  very  trade. 
In  the  same  year  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  was  won  by  Nel- 
son; England  was  henceforth  mistress  of  the  seas.  She 
used  her  power  arrogantly.  British  men-of-war  were  actu- 
ally stationed  just  outside  New  York  harbor  to  intercept 
American  merchant  vessels,  search  them,  and  impress  their 
seamen.  The  dqmineering  spirit  of  the  British  command- 
ers increased  the  annoyance  and  mortification  arising  from 
such  treatment.  Hundreds  of  sailors  were 
pressment.      ^ug  ^n  ft  sjngje  year  taken   from   American 

vessels  and  forced  to  fight  the"  battles  of  England.  The 
ground  of  seizure  was  that  these  men  were  Englishmen 
born,  and  England's  assertion  was  "  Once  an  Englishman, 
always  an  Englishman."  It  must  be  noticed  that  that  coun- 
try was  not  unique  in  holding  that  a  man  could  not  give  up 
allegiance  to  his  native  land  and  become  the  citizen  of  an- 
other. Other  nations  held  the  same  doctrine.  But  in  prac- 
tice England  enforced  her  claims  arrogantly,  seized  native- 
born  Americans  as  well  as  Englishmen,  and  disdainfully 
treated  American  commerce  as  if  the  flag  at  the  masthead 
of  a  vessel  offered  no  security  from  insult  and  annoyance. 
It  was  plain  enough  that,  much  as  the  Jeffersonians  loved 
peace,  the  United  States  must  soon  fight  in  defense  of  its 
self-respect. 

The  crowning  act  of  insolence  occurred  in  1807.     The 
American  frigate  Chesapeake  was  overtaken  not  far  from 

*  This  subject  is  very  clearly  treated   in  Charming,  The   United 
States  of  America,  pp.  174-180. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809.        273 

Hampton  Roads  by  the  British  frigate  Leopard,  and  the 
British  commander  demanded  the  surrender  of  several  sea- 
men serving  on  the  Chesapeake,  whom  he 
The  Chesapeake  claimed  to  be  deserters  from  the  British  service. 
When  this  demand  was  not  acceded  to,  the 
Leopard,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hun- 
dred feet,  poured  her  whole  broadside  into  the  American 
vessel.  The  Chesapeake  was  unprepared  for  action.  She 
received  three  broadsides  without  being  able  to  answer  in 
kind,  and  then  struck  her  flag  and  surrendered.  Three 
men  were  killed  and  eighteen  wounded.  The  alleged 
deserters  were  taken  aboard  the  Leopard.  Three  of  them 
were  Americans,  one  of  the  three  being  a  negro.  Perhaps 
the  most  exasperating  thing  about  this  whole  affair  was  the 
presumption  shown  in  attacking  a  frigate  that  was,  if  given 
a  fighting  chance,  a  fair  match  for  the  Leopard.  But  the 
English  did  not  stoop  to  consider  that  an  American  frigate 
could  fight.  Within  a  few  years  they  learned  their  mistake. 
This  outrage  nearly  brought  on  war  at  once,  and  it  probably 
would  have  been  as  well  if  that  had  been  the  result,  for  it 
was  high  time  that  either  France  or  England  came  to  see 
that  the  United  States  could  defend  herself.  And  yet  one 
must  strongly  sympathize  with  Jefferson  and  his  advisers, 
who  loathed  the  barbarity  of  war,  and  believed  that  self- 
interest  and  common  sense  should  win  all  nations  to  peace. 
Unfortunately,  the  times  were  not  suited  for  such  humane 
ideas.  Nearly  the  whole  civilized  world  was  rent  with 
strife. 

Through  these  years  France  injured  American  com- 
merce and  lost  no  opportunity  to  gain  by  plunder.  Eng- 
En  li  h  d  lan(l,  indeed,  made  some  pretense  of  having 
and  French  legal  justification  for  her  conduct ;  but  Na- 
decrees.  poleon  did  not  seem  to  need  any  excuse  for 

ordering  the  seizure  and  condemnation  of  vessels.  Jeffer- 
son, in  a  moment  of  exasperation,  said  that  England  had 
become  a  den  of  pirates  and  France  a  den  of  thieves.     Na- 


274  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

poleon  and  the  English  Government  vied  with  each  other 
in  issuing  proclamations  that  would  prevent  the  free  course 
of  neutral  trade  (1806-'7).  England  issued  two  Orders  in 
Council  which  went  to  the  extent  of  declaring  a  blockade  of 
nearly  the  whole  coast  of  Europe.  This  was  to  a  great  ex- 
tent a  mere  "  paper  blockade  " — an  announcement  without 
sufficient  force  to  make  it  effective.  The  French  Emperor 
issued  a  decree  declaring  that  the  British  Islands  were  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  and  later  another  stating  that  any  ship 
which  submitted  to  search  by  an  English  ship  was  a  lawful 
prize  for  the  cruisers  of  France.  These  were  known  as  the 
Berlin  and  the  Milan  decrees.  So  here  was  the  dilemma  for 
American  shipping — either  to  refuse  to  be  searched  and  in 
consequence  to  be  blown  out  of  the  water  by  an  English 
frigate,  or  submit  to  the  indignity  of  search  and  become 
lawful  prize  for  a  French  man-of-war,  or  be  seized  in  any 
Continental  harbor  subject  to  French  power.  The  situa- 
tion was  not  agreeable. 

Efforts  were  made  to  bring  England  to  terms  by  some 
means  short  of  war.     December,  1806,  Monroe  and  William 
Pinkney,  in  London,  negotiated  a  treaty,  but 
The  Monroe        Jefferson  refused  to  accept  it  as  satisfactory. 
He  ought  either  to  have  accepted  it  or  to  have 
prepared  seriously  for  war.     He  did  neither.     At  the  end 
of  1807   Congress,  on  his  recommendation,  passed  an  em- 
bargo act,  closing  all  the  American  harbors  to 
e  em  argo.      commerce#     This  act  was  in  force  for  over  a 
year.     It  solved  none  of  the  difficulties  under  which  the 
country  was  suffering.     The  vessels  lay  idle  at  the  wharves, 
men  were  thrown  out  of  work,  foreign  trade  was  abruptly 
stopped,  and  home  trade  was  checked.     The  products  of 
the  Southern  plantations  could  not  be  trans- 
ported.    The  interests   of   all  sections  of  the 
country  were  injured.      Perhaps  New  England  was  hurt 
least  of  all,  because  the  inventive  Yankee  now  turned  his 
attention  to  manufacturing,  and  made  money,  because  for- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  275 

eign  goods  could  not  be  imported.  The  Northern  people 
were,  however,  bitterly  incensed  against  the  policy  which 
seemed,  under  the  guise  of  protection,  to  be  destroying 
their  commerce.  England  was  doubtless  somewhat  in- 
jured, but  not  enough  to  induce  her  to  revoke  her  orders. 
Napoleon  confiscated  American  vessels  in  the  ports  of 
Europe,  claiming  that  he  was  in  all  kindness 
?°n"  enforcing  the  embargo.     Thus  the  plan  broke 

intercourse.  °  °  r        . 

down.     The  embargo  act  was  repealed  m  the 
spring  of  1809,  and  the  non-intercourse  act  passed,  making 
all  commerce  with  Great  Britain,  France,  and  their  depend- 
encies illegal,  but  restoring  trade  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 
In  1808  the  Federalists  once  more  presented  Charles  C. 
Pinckney  and  Rufus  King  as  their  candidates.     The  party 
was  stronger  than  four  years  before,  carrying 
this  time  all  of  New  England  except  Vermont, 
and  winning  some  votes  at  the  South ;  but  the  Republicans 
were  easy  victors.     James  Madison  and   George    Clinton 
were  elected  by  a  large  majority. 

Refekences. 

Short  accounts:  Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  IX; 
Walker,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  Chapters  IX  and  X ;  Channing, 
The  United  States  of  America,  Chapter  VI;  Morse,  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, pp.  209-320;  Schouler,  Thomas  Jefferson,  pp.  198-224; 
Stevens,  Albert  Gallatin,  pp.  176-289;  Stanwood,  History  of  the 
Presidency,  Chapters  VI  and  VII.  Longer  accounts  :  Schouler, 
History,  Volume  II,  Chapters  V-VII;  McMaster,  History,  Volume 
II,  Chapter  XIII,  Volume  III,  Chapters  XIV-XX;  Henry  Adams, 
History,  Volumes  I-IV. 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JAMES  MADISON— 1809-1817. 

When  Madison  became  President  he  had  already  had 
wide  political  experience.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederation  and  a  member  of  the  Federal 
convention  that  formed  the  Constitution  (1787),  where  his 


276  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

work  was  so  great  that  he  justly  won  the  title  of  "Father 
of  the  Constitution."  During  Washington's  administration 
he  was  a  leader  of  the  opposition 
party.  He  was  Jefferson's  Secretary 
of  State  through  both  terms.  He 
was  a  man  of  much  political  wisdom 
and  of  honest,  sincere  devotion  to 
his  country ;  but,  like  Jefferson,  he 
was  at  times  not  so  vigorous  an  ad- 
ministrator as  seemed  to  be  needed 
in  these  trying  days.  He  retained 
some  of  the  members  of  Jefferson's 
Cabinet,  the  ablest  of  whom  was 
Albert  Gallatin,  one  of  the  greatest 
Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  m  our 
history.  In  1811  James  Monroe  became  Secretary  of  State. 
Madison's  administration  began  brilliantly.  An  agree- 
ment was  reached  with  the  English  minister,  Erskine,  resi- 
dent at  Washington,  that  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
The  Erskine       Gn  gh^i^   De  withdrawn.     The  country  was 

agreementi 

elated,  but  doomed  to  a  speedy  disappointment. 
The  English  Government  repudiated  the  action  of  its  min- 
ister, and  Madison  was  even  accused  of  having  taken  advan- 
tage of  Erskine's  youth  and  inexperience  to  cajole  him  into 
an  unauthorized  agreement.  Erskine  was  recalled.  Jack- 
son, his  successor,  was  so  impertinent  in  his  insinuations  of 
bad  faith  on  Madison's  part  that  he  was  informed  that  our 
Government  would  receive  no  communication  from  him ;  and 
so  the  situation  was  worse  than  it  had  been  for  some  years. 
Matters  were  now  indeed  hurrying  to  a  catastrophe. 
France  and  England  were  so  utterly  brutal  in  their  attacks 

upon  American  commerce  that  they  both  de- 
Napoleon's  served  a  whipping ;  but  as  it  was  impossible  to 

treachery.  l  r     °  '  r 

fight  both,  one  of  them  should  have  been 
chosen  for  an  ally  without  more  delay.  In  1810  (March 
23)  Napoleon  issued  what  is  known  as  his  Rambouillet  de- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  <277 

cree,  ordering  the  seizure  of  all  American  vessels  that, 
since  the  non-intercourse  policy  was  adopted,  had  entered 
the  ports  of  France  or  of  any  other  country  occupied  by 
the  French.  As  a  result,  scores  of  vessels  worth  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  were  confiscated,  and  the  money  was  poured 
into  Napoleon's  treasury.  It  was  a  shameful  piece  of  thiev- 
ing, but  by  no  means  the  only  one  of  which  Napoleon  was 
guilty.  However  objectionable  war  might  be,  American 
property  might  better  be  used  in  defense  of  American 
rights  than  stolen  by  the  Emperor  of  the  French  to  help 
on  his  career  of  glory  and  carnage. 

Soon  after  the  issue  of  this  infamous  decree  the  Ameri- 
can Congress  passed  a  bill  known  as  the  Macon  Bill  No.  2 

America  gives  (Ma^  *'  1810)*  This  Prided  that  non-inter- 
Napoleon  an  course  should  be  abandoned,  but  that  if  either 
opportunity.  0f  the  offending  nations  should  "  so  revoke  or 
modify  her  edicts  as  that  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the 
neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States,"  then  intercourse 
with  the  other  nation  should  be  prohibited.  Napoleon, 
cunning  and  dishonest,  was  ready  to  take  the  advantage 
thus  offered  him.  The  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
wrote  to  the  American  minister  in  Paris :  "  His  Majesty 
loves  the  Americans.  Their  property  and  their  commerce 
are  within  the  scope  of  his  policy."  This  surprising  an- 
nouncement was  coupled  with  the  statement  that  after  No- 
vember first  the  obnoxious  decrees  should  not  be  enforced, 
but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  England  must  do  likewise  and 
renounce  her  "new  principle  of  blockade,"  or  that  the 
United  States  should  "  cause  their  rights  to  be  respected 
by  the  English."  *     So  Napoleon,  by  taking  advantage  of 

*  The  important  clause  in  the  letter  is  as  follows  :  "  I  am  author- 
ized to  declare  to  you  that  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan  are  revoked, 
and  that  after  November  1st  they  will  cease  to  have  effect,  on  the  under- 
standing that,  in  consequence  of  this  declaration,  .  .  .  the  United  States 
.  .  .  shall  cause  their  rights  to  be  respected  by  the  English."  It  is 
plain  that  by  accepting  such  a  revocation  Madison  in  a  way  bound  the 


278  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  Macon  Bill  No.  2,  by  a  little  distortion  of  its  language 

entered,  as  it  were,  into  a  contract  with  the  United  States. 

He  is  said  to  have  remarked  a  few  days  later, 

He  takes  u  j^  jg  evident  that  we  commit  ourselves  to  noth- 

advantage  of  it.    .  . 

mg.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  continued  to 
confiscate  the  American  cargoes  and  vessels  as  before.  Late 
in  1810,  however,  Madison  accepted  this  statement  of  the 
French  Government,  and  on  March  2, 1811,  Congress  passed 
an  act  re-establishing  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain. 

During  1811  the  sky  did  not  brighten  much.  The 
United  States  was  still  spitefully  ill-used  by  the  combatants 

and  still  restlessly  held  its  peace.  England 
The  situation      now  0gere(i  to  make  reparation  for  the  Chesa- 

in  1811. 

peake  outrage,  and  the  offer  was  accepted ;  but 
this  did  not  seem  to  heal  many  wounds  or  bring  much  con- 
solation. About  the  same  time  a  similar  affair  occurred 
between  the  English  man-of-war  Little  Belt  and  the  Ameri- 
can frigate  President,  but  this  time  the  English  man-of-war 
was  shattered  and  crippled.  This  action  caused  a  good 
deal  of  excitement  and  some  elation  in  America.  England 
had  not  yet  given  up  her  claim  of  right  to  search  American 
vessels  and  impress  seamen  for  her  service.  Doubtless  some 
of  these  men  were  deserters  from  British  vessels,  and  Eng- 
land needed  every  man  in  the  great  death  struggle  with 
France,  but  the  method  of  using  her  power  was  exasperat- 
ing in  the  extreme. 

For  some  time  the  Indians  on  the  Western  frontier  had 
been  in  a  restless  and  dangerous  mood.  Tecumthe — or 
Tecumseh,  as  he  is  generally  called — a  Shawnee  chief  of 
great  ability,  had  entered  upon  the  task  of  organizing  the 
red  men  into  a  vast  confederacy  to  resist  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  whites.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that,  although 
the  English  did  not  encourage  hostilities,  they  had  made 

United  States  to  compel  England  to  cease  her  violations  of  our  com- 
merce. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  279 

preparations  to  use  the  Indians  in  case  of  war.  With  Te- 
cumseh,  in  his  effort  to  arouse  the  braves,  was  his  brother 
the  "  Prophet,"  who,  not  so  wise  or  cautious  as 
Tippecanoe0  Tecumseh,  brought  on  a  war  with  the  Ameri- 
November,  cans  in  the  autumn  of  1811.     The  white  troops 

1811 

were  commanded  by  General  William  Henry 
Harrison,  and  they  defeated  the  Indians  in  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  fought  (November  7th)  near  where  the  creek 
of  that  name  falls  into  the  Wabash,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  State  of  Indiana.  Tecumseh  joined  the  English  army 
the  next  year. 

At  this  time  a  new  element  showed  itself  in  the  Repub- 
lican party.     Younger  men  from  the  South  and  West  came 

to  positions  of  prominence  in  Congress.    Henry 

Eepublicans.  Cla^'  of  Kentucky>  a  JomiS  man  barely  thirty- 
four  years  of  age,  a  representative  of  the  new 
West,  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  He  was  eloquent, 
fervid,  and  full  of  zeal  for  American  dignity  and  honor. 
He  represented  a  new  generation  in  politics,  a  generation 
which  had  arisen  since  the  Revolution,  and  had  none  of  the 
old  feeling  of  colonialism  or  of  inferiority  to  foreign  powers, 
a  generation  of  men  that  was  intensely  American.  He 
represented,  too,  the  ambitious,  impetuous  West,  where  it 
was  customary  to  resent  insult  on  the  moment  and  to  fight 
lustily  on  occasion.  So  Henry  Clay  and  those  who  thought 
with  him  could  not  be  expected  to  dally  with  fruitless 
negotiations.  John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  now 
entered  Congress  for  the  first  time.  He  was  not  yet  thirty 
years  old.  He  was  of  marked  ability,  and  had  a  keen,  logi- 
cal mind.  Though  not  so  eloquent  as  Clay,  he  was  a  forci- 
ble, effective  speaker.  Other  men  somewhat  less  noted,  but 
of  spirit  and  ability,  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
national  councils.*     This  young  and  vigorous  element  of 

*  Daniel  Webster  entered  Congress  in  1813.     Clay,  with  his  usual 
sagacity,  put  Webster  at  once  on  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee.    From 
19 


280  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  party  prepared  for  war.  Clay  organized  the  committees 
of  the  House  on  an  aggressive  basis,  giving  to  Calhoun  a 
place  on  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs,  where  his  ability 
and  vigor  made  him  its  leading  member  and  the  director  of 
its  policy. 

The  election  of  Clay  to  the  speakership  is  of  moment 

for  several  reasons,  not  only,  as  we  have  said,  because  he 

represented  a  new,  virile  element  in  the  party 

Clay  the  first      an(j  came  from  a  new  energetic  section  of  the 

great  Speaker.  ° 

country,   but   also    because    he   was   the   first 

Speaker  to  make  use  of  his  position  materially  to  influence 
legislation.  He  was  therefore  the  first  of  modern  speakers ; 
for  from  that  time  the  power  of  the  Speaker's  office  devel- 
oped so  strongly  along  the  lines  that  Clay  marked  out  that 
it  can  now  be  justly  called  at  least  second  in  importance 
and  power  in  the  Government.  "  The  natural  leader  of  that 
moment  was  Henry  Clay,"  says  a  recent  writer.  "  That  the 
place  he  was  given  from  which  to  lead  the  country  was  the 
chair  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  is  a  fact  of  great 
significance.  .  .  .  Henry  Clay  was  elected  more  than  any 
other  Speaker  as  leader  of  the  House."*  Randolph 
summed  up  the  situation  in  1812  in  a  telling  question  : 
"After  you  have  raised  these  25,000  men,  shall  we  form  a 
committee  of  public  safety  to  carry  on  the  war,  or  shall  we 
depute  the  power  to  the  Speaker  ?  Shall  we  declare  that, 
the  Executive  not  being  capable  of  discerning  the  public 
interest  or  not  having  spirit  enough  to  pursue  it,  we  have 
appointed  a  committee  to  take  the  President  and  Cabinet 
into  custody  ?  "  The  question  is,  like  many  of  Randolph's 
utterances,  extravagant,  but  its  irony  discloses  an  interest- 
ing situation. 

For  twenty  years  France  had  been  treating  the  United 


this  time  on  for  forty  years  ho  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  American 
life.' 

*  Follett,  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  p.  71. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809^1817.  281 

States  shamefully.     But  no  French  frigate  had  impressed 
American  seamen  on  the  ground  that  they  were  French- 
men,  while   England  resorted  boldly  to  this 
Warmth  practice  and  replenished  her  crews  from  the 

crews  of  our  merchantmen.  Moreover,  Napo- 
leon  had  taken  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  Macon  Bill 
No.  2,  and  by  cunning  and  deceit  had  put  the  United 
States  at  disadvantage.  Added  to  this  was  the  fact  that 
the  Eepublicans,  in  control  of  the  Government,  were  fa- 
vorable to  France  and  opposed  to  England.  Coming,  as 
many  of  them  did,  from  the  South  and  West,  they  did 
not  fear  the  ravages  of  the  English  navy,  because  they 
had  no  commerce  to  be  destroyed.  So  the  United  States 
finally  drifted  into  a  war  with  England  and  took  up  arms 
as  the  ally  of  Napoleon.  Could  there  be  stranger  com- 
panions in  arms  than  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  James 
Madison  ? 

The  young,  ambitious  Eepublicans,  who  were  largely 
responsible  for  the  war,  hoped  not  only  to  make  England 
respect  our  flag,  but  to  seize  Canada  and  to  dictate,  as  they 
said,  an  honorable  peace  at  Halifax.  They  were  filled 
with  zeal  for  showing  American  prowess.  So  Madison 
finally  yielded  to  the  impulses  of  a  large  portion  of  his 
party— timidly  and  reluctantly  yielded,  one  must  believe, 
for  to  fight  at  last  seemed  like  casting  a  slur  on  the  years 
through  which  he  and  Jefferson  had  struggled  to  avoid  war, 
and  had  sought  to  find  some  peaceable  method  of  coercion. 
Avoidance  of  war  seemed  now  impossible,  and  Madison 
yielded  to  the  inevitable.  June  1, 1812,  he  sent  to  Congress 
a  message  recounting  British  aggressions  on  our  rights. 
On  the  18th  Congress  declared  war.  On  the  16th  of  this 
same  month  the  English  ministry  announced  in  the  House 
of  Commons  that  the  Orders  in  Council  were  to  be  with- 
drawn, and  a  few  days  later  they  were  formally  revoked. 
Had  there  been  an  Atlantic  cable  in  1812  it  is  quite  possible 
that  the  war  would  have  been  averted. 


282 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


The 
combatants 


The  United  States  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  had  a 
population   of   about    eight   millions.     Great   Britain   and 
Ireland  had  a  population  of  nearly  twenty  mil- 
lions, and  had  for  a  long  time  been  expending 
blood  and  treasure  lavishly  in  the  mortal  con- 
flict with  Napoleon.     The  land  was  nerved  to  great  effort. 
The  United  States   entered  the  conflict   divided.      There 
was  not  a  universal   sentiment   that  war  was 

The  United        necessary.     The  North  and  East  were  the  sec- 
states  divided.  J 

tions  which  had  suffered  the   most  from  the 

depredations  inflicted  by  England  on  American  commerce, 

yet  many  of  the  people  of  New  England  preferred  to  bear 

the    ills   they   had   rather   than 

to   fly   to   the   heavier   if   more    l.huronV 


honorable  losses  of 
war.  If  the  choice 
must  be  made,  they  preferred 
a  war  with  France,  in  order  that  Eng- 
land might  be  an  ally  and  not  an  enemy,  and  that  her  fleet 
might  not  harry  their  coast  and  destroy  their  commerce. 
But  if  they  must  fight  against  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  they 
desired  that  the  navy  be  strengthened  and  given  every  help. 
Because  of  these  different  opinions  the  country  was  weaker 
than  it  should  have  been,  and  suffered  disasters  that  might 
have  been  avoided  had  there  been  a  common  front  against 
a  common  enemy. 

It  was  apparent  at  the  outset  that  the  Northwest  must 
be  protected.  Some  time  before  the  formal  declaration  of 
war  General  William  Hull  was  sent  with  a  force  from  Ohio 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817. 


283 


to  the  defense  of  Detroit.  War  was  declared  while  he  was 
on  the  way.  The  British  were  posted  at  Maiden.  Hull, 
after  some  disasters,  arrived  in  Detroit,  and 
British  gam  g0(m  pasge(j  over  int0  Canada,  pompously  call- 
ing upon  the  Canadians  to  seek  freedom  from 
oppression  under  the  American  standard.  Instead  of  push- 
ing on  to  Maiden,  he  delayed,  crossed  back  to  Detroit,  and 
there  called  upon  the  Government  for  assistance.  His 
position  was  soon  perilous.  His  lines  of  communication 
with  Ohio  were  broken,  and  on  August  16th  he  surren- 
Detroit  dered  Detroit  to  the  enemy.     Mackinaw  had 

surrendered,  already  fallen,  and  the  Indians  soon*  destroyed 
August,  1812.  ^ort  Dearborilj  where  Chicago  now  stands. 
Michigan  was  in  the  hands 


of  the  enemy,  and  the 
whole  Northwest  in  dan- 
ger. The  Indians,  under 
the  leadership  of  Tecum- 
seh,  a  warrior  of  rare  vig- 
or and  ability,  aided  the 
British  in  these  Western 
campaigns.  The  people 
of  Michigan  Territory  re- 
mained in  terror  of  the 
Indians  throughout  the 
war. 

Little  was  done  in  the 
East  during  this  first  sum- 
mer    of    the   war.     The 
strategic  points  were  Ni- 
agara and  the  Champlain  region.     At  the  former  place  a 
battle  was  fought,  resulting  in  defeat  for  the  Americans.* 
The  whole  •  campaign  of  1812  was  a  dismal  failure,  as  far  as 
the  land  battles  were  concerned. 


War  on  Niagara  Frontier. 


Battle  of  Queenstown,  October  13th. 


284  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

On  the  sea,  however,  matters  had  taken  a  different  turn. 

Our  navy  was  small,  but  some  of  the  vessels  were  good,  and 

officers  and  men  had  received  excellent  train- 

Scean011  inS  in  seamansniP-  The  United  States  frigate 
Constitution,  under  command  of  Commodore 
Isaac  Hull,  fought  and  captured  the  English  frigate  Guer- 
riere.  "  In  less  than  thirty  minutes  from  the  time  we  got 
alongside  of  the  enemy,"  reported  Hull,  "  she  was  left  with- 
out a  spar  standing,  and  the  hull  cut  to  pieces  in  such  a 


The  Constitution.     (From  an  old  cut.) 

manner  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  keep  her  above  water." 
She  was  so  badly  damaged  that  the  victors  destroyed  her. 
This  was  a  momentous  victory.  "It  raised  the  United 
States  in  one  half  hour  to  the  rank  of  a  first-class  power."  * 
Other  victories  followed  quickly,  and  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  were  jubilant,  especially  the  New  England- 

*  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  vi,  p.  375. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  285 

ers,  who  had  long  boasted  that  "  the  wooden  walls  of  Co- 
lumbia" would  prove  the  nation's  best  defense.  It  was 
apparent  that  Great  Britain  had  found  a  rival  on  the 
ocean,  and  this  at  a  time  when  a  succession  of  victories  in 
the  Napoleonic  wars  had  made  England  the  mistress  of  the 
seas.  America  could  not  equal  the  enemy  in  strength,  for 
the  English  navy  was  very  large  and  powerful ;  but  when 
vessels  met  on  anything  like  even  terms  the  Americans 
showed  themselves  at  least  the  equals  of  the  English  in 
gunnery,  and  often  their  superiors  in  seamanship. 

During  this  summer  the  presidential  election  occurred. 
We   have  already  noticed  the  fact   that  there  was   oppo- 
sition to  the  war,  and  to  Madison,  who  had  final- 

^T8ei2Cti0n  ty  adyised  **•  The  Democratic  candidates  were 
Madison  and  Elbridge  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts. 
The  Federalists  supported  De  Witt  Clinton,  of  New  York, 
and  Jared  Ingersoll,  of  Pennsylvania.  In  spite  of  the  inef- 
ficient way  in  which  the  war  was  being  conducted  the  Ad- 
ministration was  sustained  by  the  popular  and  the  electoral 
vote.  Madison  received  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  elec- 
toral votes,  Clinton  eighty-nine. 

The  campaign  of  1813  began  in  discouragement.  In 
January  a  company  of  brave  Kentuckians,  who  had  volun- 
teered to  retake  Detroit  and  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of 
Hull's  surrender,  were  attacked  and  beaten  at  the  River 
Raisin,  in  Michigan.  The  Americans  were  under  General 
Winchester,  the  British  under  Proctor.  The  Indians  in- 
flicted horrible  brutalities  on  the  wounded. 

In  spite  of  this  first  failure  to  drive  the  British  from 
Michigan  the  American  army  finally  achieved  success. 
General  Harrison,  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  now  commanded 
in  the  West.     He  held  his  own  in  northern  Ohio,*  and  was 

*  Fort  Meigs,  on  the  Maumee,  commanded  by  Harrison,  was  at- 
tacked by  the  British  in  May.  It  was  bravely  defended,  and  the  enemy 
was  forced  to  retreat.  This  defeat  cost  the  British  the  confidence  and 
support  of  many  of  the  Indians. 


280 


HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ready  when  opportunity  offered  to  proceed  to  Detroit.  To 
do  this  with  safety  Lake  Erie  should  be  in  our  control. 
B  ttl  fLk  ^ne  °^  ^e  great  battles  of  the  war  took  place 
Erie,  September  near  the  western  end  of  that  lake,  between  an 
14, 1813,  American  fleet  under  the  command  of  Com- 

modore Perry  and  a  British  fleet  commanded  by  Com- 
modore Barclay.  The  battle  was  picturesque.  Perry  had 
to  leave  his  flagship,  the  Lawrence,  during  the  engage- 
ment and  row  to  another  vessel. 
He  finally  conquered,  and  his 
announcement  of  the  victory  has 
become  famous  :  "  We  have  met  ^ 
the  enemy,  and  they  are 
ours.  Two  ships, 
two  brigs, 


N 

Buffaloe  or 
V>    ^'^T^w  Amsterdam^ 


War  on  Northern  Frontier. 


one  schooner,  and  one  sloop."     Harrison,  with  the  aid  of  the 
fleet,  passed  to  Detroit.     Thence  he  followed  the  retreating 
army  into  Canada  and  defeated  them  at  the  bat- 
TWs!16  tie  of  the  Thames,  October  5,  1813.     Tecumseh 

Octobers,  was  killed.    The  Indians  remained  hostile  in  the 

1813'  Northwest,  but  the  British  army  was  crushed, 

and  no  more  open  fighting  took  place  in  that  region. 

In  the  East  as  well  as  the  West  there  were  some  victories 
for  the  Americans.  General  Dearborn  decided  upon  an  ex- 
pedition to  York  (now  Toronto).  A  successful  attack  Avas 
made   upon   the  place   and   it  was   taken   and   destroyed. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  287 

Later  in  the  summer,  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara  Eiver, 
passed  into  our  hands,  the  result  of  a  fierce  assault  led  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Winfield  Scott,  who  dis- 
Battles  in  the  tinguished  himself  for  gallantry.  Late  in  the 
autumn  an  unsuccessful  expedition  was  set  on 
foot  against  Montreal,  and  in  December  Fort  George  was 
abandoned.  In  other  words,  at  the  end  of  the  second  year 
of  the  war  the  situation  on  the  northern  boundary,  except  at 
Detroit,  was  much  as  at  the  beginning.  The  campaign  had 
been  managed  with  no  energy  and  with  little  show  of  gen- 
eralship. 

On  the  ocean  there  were  victories  and  defeats  for  the 
ambitious  little  navy.  In  February  of  this  same  year  the 
American  Hornet  fought  and  sunk  the  Pea- 
cock, the  British  brig  Pelican  captured  the 
Argus,  and  the  American  brig  Enterprise  defeated  the 
Boxer.  The  most  noteworthy  contest  was  that  between 
the  American  frigate  Chesapeake  and  the  Shannon.  The 
former  was  commanded  by  Captain  Lawrence,  who  was 
anxious  to  meet  the  Shannon  and  accept  a  challenge  pub- 
licly offered  by  the  English  commander.  The  engagement 
lasted  but  a  few  minutes,  ending  in  a  complete  victory  for 
the  English  vessel.  Captain  Lawrence  was  killed.  The 
event  caused  great  sadness  in  America,  but  the  rejoicing  in 
England  was  substantial  proof  that  the  defeat  of  a  Yankee 
frigate  was  no  longer  considered  a  foregone  conclusion. 

During  the  summer  of  this  year  and  the  winter  of  1814 
there  was  some  sharp  fighting  with  the  Indians  in  the 
South.  General  Jackson  was  finally  victorious 
Southwest.  over  tnem  in  a  °loody  battle  at  the  Horseshoe, 
a  great  bend  in  the  Tallapoosa  River.  This 
campaign  under  Jackson's  energetic  leadership  destroyed 
the  power  of  the  Indians  in  that  section.  Many  of  them 
fled  into  Spanish  territory,  and  in  later  years  caused  the 
United  States  much  trouble. 

The  year  1814  was  hardly  more  cheering  than  the  pre- 


288 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


vious  one.  General  Wilkinson,  in  the  Champlain  region, 
began  the  campaign  by  an  example  of  inefficiency.  The 
summer  bade  fair  to  be  disastrous.  English 
S2J?J5A  vessels  hovered  along  our  coast,  and  the  appar- 
ent defeat  of  Napoleon  in  Europe  gave  opportu- 
nity to  send  over  to  America  some  of  the  veterans  of  that 
long  contest.  On  the  Niagara  frontier  our  troops  under 
General  Brown,  an  able  man,  fought  with  great  gallantry. 
The  battles  of  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane  were  victories 

for  the  Americans, 
where  Scott  again  dis- 
tinguished himself. 
These  successful  en- 
gagements gave  us  a 
slight  hold  on  Canada, 
but  in  the  autumn  the 
American  troops  were 
withdrawn  to  the  New 
York  side  of  the  river, 
and  the  year  ended 
with  nothing  accom- 
plished in  that  quar- 
ter. 

A  victory  on  Lake  Champlain  gave  some  encourage- 
ment. The  British  with  a  large  force  were  intending  an 
invasion  of  New  York  by  the  old  route,  by  the 
Champlain,  wav  °^  Lake  Champlain ;  but  the  success  de- 
pended on  the  support  of  the  accompanying 
fleet.  All  hope  of  assistance  from  this  quarter 
was  soon  destroyed.  An  American  fleet  under  Commodore 
Macdonough  met  and  defeated  the  British  off  Plattsburg  in 
a  desperate  and  hard-fought  contest. 

During  the  summer  the  eastern  coast  was  much  harried 
by  the  enemy.  In  August  they  appeared  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washington,  finally  taking  that  city,  after  some  feeble 
efforts  at  resistance.     They  burned  the  Capitol  as  a  "  har- 


1814. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817. 


289 


bor  of  Yankee  democracy."  The  President's  house  and 
some  of  the  other  public  buildings  were  likewise  destroyed. 
_  , .  This  was  said  to  be  in  retaliation  for  American 

Washington 

taken,  Augnst,  acts  in  Canada.  The  Americans  had  burned 
1814,  the  Government  buildings  at  York ;  but  this 

had  been  done  by  some  private  soldiers  acting  without 
authority,  and  was  denounced  by  the  press  of  the  whole 
country  and  disowned  by  the  commanding  general.  The 
English  people,  too,  regretted  the  burning  of  the  buildings 


Al.'xa.iclria-iy       Upper  • 
Alexandria^        Marlbor6 

Ji..Ft.W;ishi.i-to: 


?%r- 


BALTIMORE,^,/       A* 
Jp.    ^^North  Pit 

1  K  *4  m 


h 


V?' 


hrt 


^  « 


*%J^&    h 


'ICINITY  OF        A  ^  >  ^O1    5V \        fc>        °  C\  A 


BALTIMORE  &  WASHINGTON 
in  1812 


290 


HrSTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


at  Washington.     One  paper  said :  "  The   Cossacks   spared 
Paris,  but  we  spared  not  the  Capitol  of  America." 

The  naval  events  of  this  year  were  not  so  interesting  as 
those  of  the  preceding  year.  The  sloop  Essex,  after  an 
extended  cruise  in  the  Pacific  protecting 
American  whalers  and  capturing  those  of  the 
enemy,  was  destroyed  by  two  English  ships 
after  a  fierce  and  stubborn  contest  near  Valparaiso.  Other 
battles  served  to  keep  up  the  reputation  of  the  navy.     But 


Naval  events 
1814. 


^SANDWICH  IS 


NUKAHIVA7\ 


i  terra  DEL  FUEGO 
",'CAPE  HORN 


Cruise  of  the  Essex. 

by  this  time  the  English  fleet  on  our  coast  was  so  large 
that  it  actually  blockaded  the  principal  ports  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year  the  British  prepared  to 
make  an  attack  upon  New  Orleans.  They  sent  ten  thousand 
veteran  troops  for  the  purpose.  General  Jackson  was  in 
command  of  the  United  States  forces  in  that  quarter. 
After  some  skirmishing,  the  enemy  made  a  grand  assault 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  291 

upon  the  American  defenses,  January  8th.  Our  forces  were 
well  protected,  and  the  attack  was  disastrous  to  the  English. 
Battle  of  New  Their  loss  was  very  great;  their  commander 
Orleans,  Jan-  was  killed,  and  some  two  thousand  of  the 
nary,  1815.  troops  were  either  killed,  wounded,  or  missing. 
The  Americans  lost  about  seventy. 

This  battle  was  fought  two  weeks  after  peace  had  been 
concluded  at  Ghent.  The  treaty  ending  the  war  (December 
24,  1814)  settled  none  of  the  questions  in  dis- 
Qhen?  °f  pute.     But  the  war  was  nevertheless  not  with- 

out results.  Our  little  navy  had  shown  its 
mettle.  American  privateers  had  done  immense  damage  to 
British  shipping.  Impressment  was  now  a  thing  of  the 
past,  and  it  needed  no  clause  in  a  treaty  to  make  it  so. 
America  had  beyond  question  dignified  itself  among  the 
nations.  And  yet  one  can  not  help  regretting  that  the  war 
could  not  have  been  avoided.  It  was  waged  by  one  free 
nation  against  another  free  nation,  and  it  aided  Napoleon, 
the  enemy  of  free  institutions  everywhere.  It  was  waged 
by  two  peoples  whose  real  interests  were  the  same,  and 
whose  mission  in  history  has  been  the  development  of  lib- 
erty and  civilization. 

During  the  war  there  had  been  great  dissatisfaction  in 

New  England.     In  the  latter  part  of  1814  a  convention  of 

delegates  from  these  States  met  at  Hartford. 

Hartford  j^.  wag  cornmonly  supposed  that  it  would  plot 

convention.  J       Sjr ...  r 

a  disruption  of  the  Union ;  but  it  simply  drew 
up  remonstrances,  and  proposed  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution intended  to  protect  a  minority  of  the  States 
against  unwelcome  Federal  legislation.  The  doctrines  laid 
down  were  similar  to  those  of  the  Virginia  resolution  of 
1798 :  "  In  cases  of  deliberate,  dangerous,  and  palpable  in- 
fractions of  the  Constitution,  affecting  the  sovereignty  of 
the  State  and  liberties  of  the  people,  it  is  not  only  the 
right  but  the  duty  of  such  a  State  to  interpose  its  authority 
for  their   protection.  .  .  .  States  which  have  no   common 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

umpire  must  be  their  own  judges  and  execute  their  own 
decisions."  Peace  came  before  anything  was  accomplished. 
The  Federal  party,  whose  stronghold  was  Xew  England, 
was  brought  into  discredit  and  disrepute  because  it  had  not 
entered  heartily  into  the  war. 

The  war  did  much  to  nationalize  the  country.     State 
selfishness  and  pride  had  in  the  minds  of  the  majority  of 

the  people   given  place  to  a  broader  love  of 

country.  The  New  Englander  had  grumbled 
and  indulged  in  perpetual  fault-finding,  and  his  opposition 
had  given  the  Government  great  anxiety  and  much  trouble ; 
but  his  cheek,  too,  flushed  with  pride  as  he  thought  of  the 
victories  of  the  Yankee  ships  upon  the  sea,  and  remembered 
how  Yankee  seamanship  had  more  than  once  excelled  the 
skill  of  the  British  tars.  And  so  when  the  war  ended  there 
was  prospect  for  a  more  firmly  united  nation  than  ever 
before. 

The  monetary  affairs  of  the  country  were  in  great  con- 
fusion during  the  war,  and  at  its  close  the  task  of  bringing 

about  order  and  system  was  a  difficult  one.* 
ba^Wnati(mal    Albert   Gallatin,   the   great   Secretary   of   the 

Treasury,  who  had  served  from  the  beginning, 
of  Jefferson's  administration,  had  gone  abroad  as  one  of  the 
envoys  to  make  the  peace  of  Ghent,  and  had  given  up  the 
secretaryship.  Alexander  J.  Dallas  now  held  the  position, 
a  man   of   good   ability,   especially   in    financial   matters. 

*  "  Among  the  severest  trials  of  the  war  was  the  deficiency  of  ade- 
quate funds  to  sustain  it,  and  the  progressive  degradation  of  the  na- 
tional credit.  The  currency  soon  fell  into  frightful  disorder.  Banks 
with  fictitious  capital  swarmed  through  the  land  and  spunged  the  purse 
of  the  people,  often  for  the  use  of  their  own  money  with  more  than 
usurious  extortion.  .  .  .  The  Treasury  of  the  Union  was  replenished 
only  with  countless  millions  of  silken  tatters  and  unavailable  funds-, 
chartered  corporations,  bankrupt,  .  .  .  passed  off  upon  the  Govern, 
ment  of  their  country,  at  par,  their  rags — purchasable,  in  open  market, 
at  depreciations  of  thirty  and  forty  per  cent."  (John  Quincy  Adams 
The  Lives  of  Madison  and  Monroe,  p.  272.) 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817.  293 

Just  before  entering  upon  the  war  Congress  had  refused 
(1811)  to  recharter  the  National  Bank,  whose  charter  then 
expired.  State  banks  had  as  a  consequence  increased 
greatly  in  numbers,  many  of  them  without  more  than  the 
merest  show  of  capital.  The  value  of  their  notes  was  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  Most  of  the  banks  were  utterly  un- 
able to  do  more  than  put  out  promises  to  pay,  for  specie 
they  did  not  have.  In  1816  a  new  Bank  bill  was  introduced 
into  Congress  and  passed.  The  charter  was  for  twenty  years, 
the  capital  $35,000,000,  of  which  one  fifth  was  to  be  owned 
by  the  United  States.  One  fifth  of  the  directors  were  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  there  came  a  demand 
for  the  protection  of  American  manufactures.  The  long 
period  of  war  in  Europe,  the  embargo,  and  the 
non-intercourse  policy  had  resulted  in  the  en- 
couragement of  manufacturing  in  this  country,  because  the 
products  of  France  and  England  were  not  brought  into  our 
ports  and  into  competition  with  the  home  product.  After 
the  war  English  goods  were  thrown  upon  our  market  in 
large  quantities.  To  protect  manufacturers  and  to  make 
the  country  independent  of  foreign  countries,  a  tariff  law 
was  passed  (1816).  This  was  in  essence  a  protective  tariff, 
and  to  all  practical  purposes  the  first  of  that  kind.  It  was 
supported  by  the  South  and  West.  Its  strongest  opponent 
was  Daniel  Webster,  representing  the  commercial  interests 
of  New  England.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  South 
became  opposed  to  a  tariff  and  the  North  in  favor  of  it.* 

For  thirty  years  and  more  there  had  been  a  continuous 
movement  of  population  from  the  States  of  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  into  the  Mississippi  Valley.     At  the  close  of  the 

*  The  time  was  not  far  distant  when  many  men  at  the  South  would 
echo  the  words  that  John  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  used  in  the  debate 
upon  this  tariff  bill :  "  Upon  whom  bears  the  duty  on  coarse  woolens 
and  blankets,  on  salt  and  the  necessaries  of  life  ?  Upon  poor  men  and 
slave  owners." 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

war  this  movement  assumed  larger  proportions  than  before ; 

thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  made  their  way  into  the 

West,  and  yet  almost  nothing  had  been  done  to 

Internal  connect  the  Eastern  States  with  the  new  corn- 

improvements. 

monwealths  that  were  growing  up  beyond  the 

mountains.  As  early  as  1806  money  had  been  appropriated 
for  what  was  known  as  the  Cumberland  Koad.  This  was  to 
run  from  the  Potomac  over  the  mountains  and  into  the 
West.  Something  over  a  hundred  miles  of  road  had  been 
built  by  1816,  when  Calhoun  introduced  a  bill  to  use  the 
proceeds  which  the  Government  received  from  the  bank 
for  internal  improvements.  This  bill  was  vetoed  by  Madi- 
son on  the  ground  of  unconstitutionality.  Some  years 
later  Monroe  vetoed  the  so-called  Cumberland  Koad  bill  for 
the  same  reason.  This  looked  as  if  a  policy  of  strict  con- 
struction was  to  be  again  taken  up.  But  this  was  almost 
the  only  sign  of  a  wish  to  return  to  the  narrow  policy  the 
Eepublicans  had  favored  twenty  years  before.  Experience 
and  the  war  had  done  much  to  crush  out  a  timorous  dread 
of  governmental  power.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that 
Calhoun  and  some  other  Southern  men  were  then  strong 
advocates  of  such  internal  improvements  and  of  a  broad 
national  policy.  "  Let  it  not  be  forgotten,"  said  Calhoun, 
"  let  it  be  forever  kept  in  mind,  that  the  extent  of  our  re- 
public exposes  us  to  the  greatest  of  all  calamities,  next  to 
the  loss  of  liberty,  and  even  to  that  in  consequence — dis- 
union." 

Because  of  the  part  the  extreme  Federalists  had  taken 
during  the  war  the  party  was  now  in  disfavor.  Many  per- 
sons who  had  themselves  been  very  critical  while  the  war 
was  in  progress,  now  found  no  fault  with  the  Administra- 
^  tion.     It  was  not  uncertain  who  would  succeed 

presidential  to  the  presidency.  Monroe  had  been  promi- 
election,  1816.  nent  for  vears  jn  various  places  of  public 
trust.  He  had  been  an  efficient  Secretary  of  State  during 
Madison's  administration,  and  for  a  time,  when  the  dangers 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MADISON— 1809-1817. 


295 


and  disasters  had  been  the  greatest,  had  been  Secretary  of 
War  also.  He  had  shown  considerable  capacity  and  vigor, 
and  was  almost  the  only  person  in  high  office  that  had 
come  out  of  the  war  with  distinction.  The  result  of  the 
election  was  the  choice  of  Monroe  for  President,  and  Daniel 
D.  Tomkins  for  Vice-President.  The  Federalists  cast  their 
ballots  for  Rufus  King,  but  did  not  unite  on  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent. They  carried  only  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and 
Delaware. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  199-226  ; 
Walker,  The  Making  of  the  Nation,  pp.  214-275  ;  Gay,  James  Madi- 
son, pp.  282-321  ;  Gilman,  James  Monroe,  Chapter  V  ;  Schurz, 
Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  pp.  68-126  ;  Higginson,  Larger  History, 
Chapter  XV.  Longer  accounts :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  II,  pp. 
279-462  ;  Hildreth,  History,  Volume  VI,  pp.  149-618  ;  McMaster, 
History,  Volume  III,  pp.  339-560,  Volume  IV,  pp.  1-419  ;  Adams, 
History,  Volumes  V-IX  ;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume 
IV,  pp.  180-247  ;  Roosevelt,  Naval  War  of  1812  ;  Maclay,  United 
States  Navy. 


■  Mil!  ll  fii 
rf  P  IN r " 


House  in  Ghent  where  the  Commissioners  Met  to  Agree  uton 
the  Treaty  of  Peace  that  Ended  the  War  of  1812. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Political  and  Industrial  Reorganization— 1817-1829. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  JAMES  MONROE— 1817-1825. 

Monroe's  Cabinet  contained  a  number  of  strong  men. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  appointed   Secretary   of   State; 

William  II.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of 

The  era  of  the  Treasury;  and  J.  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of 

good  feeling,  J  .    J 

War.     The  eight  years  of  Monroe  s  presidency 

were  not  devoid  of  interesting  problems  and  of  occurrences 
that  mean  a  good  deal  in  our  history.  But  the  old  party 
disputes  that  were  carried  on  with  so  much  bitterness  were 

now  for  a  time  laid  aside.  The 
country  enjoyed  an  "  era  of  good 
feeling."  A  journey  through 
the  Northern  States  which  was 
made  by  Monroe  soon  after  his 
inauguration  did  something  to 
bring  about  the  change.  "  The 
visit  of  the  President,"  said  a 
newspaper  of  the  time,  "  seems 
to  have  allayed  the  storms  of 
party.  People  now  meet  in  the 
same  room  who  a  short  while 
since  would  scarcely  pass  each 
other  along  the  street." 

There    were    many    reasons 
for  this  era  of  good  will.     The 
times  had  changed.     The   w;ir  bad   bad    in    reality  a   na- 
tionalizing effect.     The  great  questions  of  foreign  policy 
296 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  MONROE— 1817-1825.  297 

which  had  divided  the  people  since  the  coming  of  Genet 

were  now  no  more.     The  changed  commercial  conditions 

bade  people   forget   their  party  strivings  and 

Seasons  for  enter  lustily  into  the  tasks  of  business  life.  The 
good  ieelingi  J 

new  West,  opening  up  with  all  its  possibilities 

of  wealth  and  empire,  filled  men's  minds  with  hopes  of  a 
great  material  destiny  for  their  country.  Moreover,  there 
was  nothing  left  for  the  Federalists,  disgraced  by  the  name 
of  the  Hartford  convention.  The  Eepublicans  were  now 
construing  the  Constitution  as  broadly  as  did  the  Federal- 
ists in  the  days  of  Hamilton.* 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  facts  of  the  period  was  the 

development  of  the  West  and  Southwest.     There  had  long 

been  an  intermittent  stream  of  migration  over 

Migration  to  the  mountains  from  the  seacoast  States.  When- 
the  West.  . 

ever  times  were  bad  or  the  ocean  commerce 

was  seriously  interfered  with,  then  many  turned  their  faces 
westward  and  sought  new  homes.  Ohio  was  admitted  to 
the  Union  in  1803.  Louisiana,  in  1812.  Between  1810  and 
1816  the  population  of  Ohio  increased  from  two  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand  to  about  four  hundred  thousand.  In 
the  same  period  the  number  of  people  in  Indiana  leaped 
from  twenty-four  thousand  to  nearly  three  times  that  num- 
ber. The  Southern  seacoast  States  poured  their  citizens 
into  Illinois  and  the  Territories  of  the  Southwest.  Many  of 
the  Eastern  States  were  almost  stationary  in  population. 
North  Carolina  complained  that  within  twenty-five  years 
two  hundred  thousand  people  had  removed  to  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio  and  Tennessee.  Virginia,  "  the  Old  Dominion," 
might  almost  be  said  to  be  the  mother  of  States  as  well  as 
of  Presidents.  "  While  many  other  States  "  reported  a  com- 
mittee of  her  legislature,  "  have  been  advancing  in  wealth 
and  numbers  with  a  rapidity  which  has  astonished  them- 

*"  There  should  be  now  no  difference  of  parties,"  said  Josiah 
Quincy,  "  for  the  Republicans  have  out-federalized  Federalism."  See 
Schouler,  vol.  ii,  p.  462, 


298 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


^|^l|Olf)#!ll|ij,JiLllll'i')i 


Cincinnati  in  1810.     (From  an  old  print.) 

selves,  the  ancient  Dominion  and  elder  sister  of  the  Union 
has  remained  stationary.  .  .  .  The  fathers  of  the  land  are 
gone  where  another  outlet  to  the  ocean  turns  their  thoughts 
from  the  place  of  their  nativity,  and  their  affections  from 
the  haunts  of  their  youth." 

Great  as  was  this  westward  movement  during  the  years 
just  mentioned,  after  1816  it  was  even  greater.  The  tide 
a.    .„  of  migration  to  the  new  West  became  a  mighty 

Significance  &  °     J 

of  westward  current.  Steamboats  plied  up  and  down  the 
expansion.  Western  rivers.     Prosperous  towns  sprang  up, 

and  big  plantations  stretched  along  the  rich  river  bottoms 
of  the  Southern  States.  In  181G  Indiana  came  into  the 
Union;  Mississippi  (1817),  Illinois  (1818),  Alabama  (1819), 
Missouri  (1821),  followed  in  quick  succession.  The  United 
States  had  entered  fairly  upon  a  new  stage  of  its  existence. 
In  1775  there  were  thirteen  colonies  scattered  along  the 
Atlantic  coast ;  their  traditions  were  colonial ;  they  looked 
eastward  across  three  thousand  miles  of  water  to  a  mother 
country  whose  leading  strings  they  were  ready  to  cast 
aside.     Forty  years  later  only  four  States  had  been  formed 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  MONROE— 1817-1825.  299 

west  of  the  mountains ;  the  people  still  looked  toward 
Europe,  and  their  polities  were  largely  shaped  by  foreign 
conditions.  In  1820  there  were  eight  States  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and  everywhere  a  Western  vigor  and  energy 
showed  themselves.  The  center  of  population  in  1789  was 
thirty  miles  east  of  Baltimore.  It  had  now  moved  west- 
ward over  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  even  beyond  the 
Shenandoah.  No  longer  was  the  United  States  a  row  of 
seacoast  republics,  but  an  empire  stretching  away  to  the 
interior,  giving  visions  of  continental  dominion.  In  the 
great  valley  won  from  France  in  the  momentous  conflict 
seventy-five  years  before,  the  American  people  were  now 
waxing  strong,  regardless  and  forgetful  of  old  colonial  de- 
pendence, and  heedless  of  European  politics. 

In  considering  this  Western  expansion  three  things  are 
noticeable  that  acted  as  means  or  causes :  (1)  The  steam- 
boat was  an  important  factor.  Without  it  the  populating 
of  the  West  must  have  been  a  slower  process.     (2)  More- 


Western  Extension  of  Population  in  1820. 

[The  western  boundaries  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  are  given  as  they  were 
at  a  later  date.] 


300  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

over,  just  at  this  time,  at  the  elose  of  the  great  European 
wars,  emigration  from  Europe  to  Ameriea  set  vigorously 

in  and  added  to  the  population  of  the  coun- 
Eeasons  for  this  trv#     (3)  More  interesting,  and  perhaps  in  the 

long  run  more  important,  than  either  of  these 
things  is  the  fact  that  the  fertile  fields  of  the  Southwest  at- 
tracted thousands  of  slave  owners  from  the  seaboard  States 
who  desired  to  raise  cotton  from  the  virgin  soil. 

To  understand  the  meaning  of  this  Southern  movement, 
we  must  remember  that  cotton  raising  was  comparatively  a 

recent  industry  for  the  South.  Some  cotton 
SWy  and  the  fc^  been  raised  in  colonial  times;  but  it  took 

cotton  gin,  7 

so  long  to  pick  the  seeds  from  the  fiber  that  it 
was  not  a  very  remunerative  crop.  In  1793  Eli  Whitney 
invented  the  cotton  gin.  With  this  ingenious  machine  one 
slave  could  do  as  much  work  in  cleaning  the  cotton  as 
hundreds  of  slaves  had  done  before.  About  the  same  time 
the  great  inventions  in  England  for  spinning  and  weaving 
by  machinery  gave  a  strong  stimulus  to  such  industry. 
Cotton  raising  now  became  very  profitable.  Negroes  made 
good  field  hands,  and  slaves  rose  in  value.  A  migration  set 
in  to  the  new  regions  of  the  Southwest,  where  the  fertile 
lands  were  soon  transformed  into  wide  plantations.  Thus 
it  was,  that  just  as  the  Northwest  was  filling  with  men  who 
worked  for  themselves  and  earned  their  bread  by  the  sweat 
of  their  own  brows,  the  southern  part  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  was  given  over  to  slavery. 

When  we  examine  the  commercial  and  business  con- 
dition of  the  nation  during  this  period  we  see  that  it  was  a 

period  of  transition,  a  period  of  readjustment, 
fra^sitfonf         For  alm<>st  the  fourth  of  a  century  there  had 

been  war  in  Europe,  and  American  trade  had 
grown  up  largely  on  what  we  may  call  a  war  basis.  Now 
there  was  peace  ;  and  men,  that  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
more  reckless  ventures  of  trade  in  time  of  war,  found  they 
must  learn  new  lessons  of   cool  calculation   and  unlearn 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   MONROE— 1817-1825.  301 

much  thitt  they  had  learned  before.  On  the  whole,  the 
people  showed  energy  mid  skill  in  adapting  themselves  to 
the  new  conditions. 

Men  entered  joyously  upon  the  pursuits  of  peace,  and 
for  a  year  or  two  after  the  war  there  seemed  to  be  pros- 
perity. What  are  commonly  called  flush  times 
prevailed.  Men  were  led  into  speculation  and 
were  tempted  to  run  wildly  into  debt.  Such  conduct 
always  brings  its  reward  in  disaster.  Only  gradually  could 
the  losses  of  the  war  be  repaired,  or  business  be  established 
on  a  fair  basis  and  lasting  prosperity  secured.  Every  hasty 
step  simply  added  to  the  trouble  that  was  to  come. 

Before   an   era   of   sound    prosperity   commenced,   the 

country  passed   through   the   hardships   of   a   commercial 

panic.    For  this  there  were  many  reasons.    The 

and  their  currency  in  common  use  in  many  parts  of  the 

nlfiflJfulT'fl 

land  was  of  fluctuating  and  uncertain  value,  or 
of  no  value  at  all ;  much  of  it  consisted  of  notes  issued 
by  banks  acting  under  State  charters  without  sufficient 
capital,  often  with  scarcely  any  specie  or  real  money  of  any 
kind.  English  manufacturers  by  sundry  devices  avoided 
the  tariff  laws  and  flooded  the  Eastern  cities  with  their 
goods.  Other  causes  co-operated  to  bring  confusion  and 
uncertainty  in  business.  Great  depression  was  the  in- 
evitable result.  "  The  years  1819  and  1820,"  says  Benton 
in  his  Thirty  Years'  View,  "  were  a  period  of  gloom  and 
agony.  No  money,  either  gold  or  silver ;  no  paper  con- 
vertible into  specie  ;  no  measure  or  standard  of  value  left 
remaining.  .  .  .  No  price  for  property  or  produce.  No 
employment  for  industry,  no  demand  for  labor,  no  sale  for 
the  product  of  the  farm,  no  sound  of  the  hammer,  but 
that  of  the  auctioneer  knocking  down  property."  Benton 
knew  the  West,  and  perhaps  he  did  not  exaggerate  the 
conditions.  This  was  the  first  of  those  severe  commer- 
cial panics  which  have  during  this  century  swept  over  our 
country. 


302  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  United  States  Bank  was  charged  by  many  with 
"bringing  on  tho  hard  times,  for  which  it  seems  indeed  to  have 
been  in  part  responsible.*  Some  of  the  States 
The  National  tried  to  prevent  it  from  establishing  branch 
banks  within  their  limits.  In  the  case  of 
McCulloch  vs.  Maryland,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that 
the  bank  was  constitutional,  and  that  a  State  could  not  tax 
the  bank,  as  it  was  an  agent  of  the  United  States.  For 
some  time,  however,  in  the  West  the  establishment  of  branch 
banks  was  resisted,  and  in  Ohio  the  bank  was  for  a  while 
practically  an  outlaw. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  century  our  Government  had 

been  desirous  of  getting  possession  of  the  Floridas.     It  will 

be  remembered  that  West  Florida  had  been 

Acquisition  of     c]aime^  as  part  0f  the  Louisiana  purchase,  on 

Florida.  r  ,  ..*«■■..  Li     .    • 

the  ground  that  the  original  Louisiana — that  is 
to  say,  "  Louisiana  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  France  " — had 
extended  to  the  east  of  Mobile  Bay,  and  even  to  the  Per- 
dido.  In  1810  f  a  considerable  portion  of  this  territory  was 
occupied  by  American  troops,  and  in  the  early  part  of  1813 
Mobile  was  taken  and  a  fort  built  at  the  entrance  of  the 
harbor.  But  for  some  years  after  this  the  rest  of  the 
Floridas  remained  in  the  hands  of  Spain.  In  1818  General 
Andrew  Jackson,  engaged  in  fighting  the  Seminole  Indians 
who  were  then  at  war,  entered  Florida  and  hanged  two 
Englishmen,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  given  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  Seminoles  and  were  but  "  outlaws  and 
pirates."  This  showed  that  the  province  was  not  in  reality 
governed  by  Spain,  but  was  at  our  mercy.  In  1819  Spain 
ceded  Florida  to  the  United  States.  In  payment,  the 
United   States  agreed  to  pay  the   claims   of  our  citizens 

*  See  McMaster,  History,  vol.  iv,  p.  495.  The  succeeding  pages  of 
this  chapter  in  McMaster  are  very  readable  and  instructive. 

f  A  proclamation  was  issued  by  Madison  in  1810  ordering  the  seiz- 
ure and  possession  of  the  land  "  south  of  the  Mississippi  Territory  and 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  and  extending  to  the  river  Perdido." 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  MONROE— 1817-1825.  303 

against  Spain  to  the  amount  of  $5,000,000.  The  western 
boundary  of  Louisiana  was  at  the  same  time  determined ; 
we  surrendered  any  claim  we  might  have  to  the  Texas 
country,  and  Spain  gave  up  all  claim  to  land  north  of  the 
forty-second  parallel.*  The  treaty  was  not  ratified  by 
Spain  till  1821. 

For  nearly  a  generation  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution there  was  no  great  contest  on  the  subject  of  slav- 
ery.    The  exciting  events  that  rapidly  followed 
question  in         one  upon  another  after  the  foundation  of  the 
politics.  Government  gave  little  opportunity  for  discus- 

sion of  the  slavery  question.  Men,  in  fact,  did  not  realize 
that  during  these  years  the  North  and  the  South  were  de- 
veloping differently ;  and  in  1818  no  one  seemed  to  appre- 
ciate the  fact  that  the  situation  had  radically  changed  in 
the  past  thirty  years,  that  the  two  sections  had  grown  apart 
in  the  essentials  of  their  social  and  industrial  life,  and  that 
the  opinion  of  the  South  on  slavery  was  now  quite  different 
from  the  prevailing  opinion  of  the  North.  When  the  Con- 
stitution was  formed  all  the  States  save  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  had  slaves,  but  everywhere  in  the  North 
the  institution  was  losing  ground.  At  the  North  the  in- 
dustry and  life  of  the  people  were-  not  materially  influ- 
enced by  slave  labor ;  at  the  South  society  was  built  upon 
that  system.  But  in  the  South  as  well  as  in  the  North  it 
was  considered  by  thinking  men  an  evil.  The  ablest  Vir- 
ginia statesmen  lamented  the  existence  of  slavery  and  fore- 
told its  baneful  effect.  In  the  Philadelphia  convention 
George  Mason,  of  Virginia,  used  these  words:  "Slavery 
discourages  arts  and  manufactures.     The  poor  despise  labor 

*  See  the  map.  This  line  of  1819  is  important.  It  ran  up  the  west 
branch  of  Sabine  River  to  32°  latitude  and  thence  due  north  to  the  Red 
River;  thence  up  the  Red  River  to  longitude  100° ;  thence  due  north  to 
the  Arkansas  River ;  thence  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Arkansas  to 
its  source,  in  latitude  42°,  or  by  a  direct  line  from  its  source  to  the  42d 
parallel ;  thence  due  west  to  the  Pacific. 


304  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

when  performed  by  slaves.  They  prevent  the  emigration 
of  whites,  who  really  enrich  and  strengthen  a  country. 
They  produce  the  most  pernicious  effect  on  manners. 
Every  master  of  slaves  is  born  a  petty  tyrant.  They  bring 
the  judgment  of  Heaven  on  a  country.  As  nations  can  not 
be  rewarded  or  punished  in  the  next  world,  they  must  be  in 
this.  By  an  inevitable  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  Provi- 
dence punishes  national  sins  by  national  calamities." 

It  is  true  that  the  delegates  from  the  most  southern 
States  contended  in  the  convention  for  permission  to  intro- 
duce   slaves,   and  the   Constitution   in   conse- 
notrealLe the*    quence  declared  such  introduction  should  not 
growth  of  be  prohibited  before  January  1, 1808.*     And  it 

is  true  that  at  a  later  time  representatives  in 
Congress  from  these  same  States  bitterly  resented  attacks 
upon  slavery.  But  the  Northern  men  were  for  some  years 
deluded  by  the  hope  that  in  the  natural  course  of  events 
slavery  would  disappear  from  the  South,  as  it  was  every- 
where disappearing  in  the  North.  In  1807  a  bill  was  passed 
making  the  importation  of  slaves  illegal  after  the  end  of 
the  year,  and  later  the  President  was  authorized  to  use  the 
ships  of  war  to  stop  the  African  slave  trade.  Upon  neither 
of  these  matters  was  there  great  discussion  or  excitement, 
and  until  1819  the  North  slumbered  on,  in  large  measure 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  slavery  was  winding  ever  more 
firmly  its  coils  about  the  Southern  States,  that  opinion  in 
Virginia  was  changed,  that  already  the  lower  part  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley  was  utterly  given  over  to  the  system. 
The  greatest  reason  for  the  extension  of  slavery  and  for  its 
gaining  a  stronger  hold  than  had  seemed  possible  forty 
years  before  lay  in  the  fact  that  cotton  raising  had  become 
a  widespread  industry,  an  industry  for  which  slave  labor 
seemed  to  be  well  fitted. 

Thus  the  two  sections  had  been  developing  differently, 


*  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  1. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MONROK— 1817-182.f 


305 


and  suddenly  it  was  seen  that  Northern  and  Southern  sen 

timents  were  antagonistic.     Slavery  became  a  political  ques* 

tion,  aroused  the  fear  of  men,  and  stirred  them 

buti!Tk;  .    to  bitterness  in  debate.     Although  the  North 

ened  to  the  fact.  ° 

had  been  gaining  in  population  more  rapidly 
than  the  South,  slave  States  and  free  States  had  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  alternately,  and  the  balance  between 
the  sections  had  been  kept  in  the  Senate,  where  each  State 
had  equal  weight  with 
every  other.  A  propo- 
sition to  exclude  slav- 
ery from  a  State  seek- 
ing admission  disclosed 
to  the  people  how  wide- 
ly they  had  drifted 
asunder. 

The  matter  came  up 
in  this  wise.  Missouri 
applied  for  admission 
to  the  Union.  In  1819, 
when  an  act  for  this 
purpose  was  before  the 
House,  John  Tall- 
madge,  Jr.,  a  represen- 
tative from  New  York, 
introduced  an  amend- 
ment to  the  act  provid- 
ing that  no  more  slaves  The  Missouri  Compromise  Line.* 
should  be  introduced  into  Missouri,  and  that  all  children 
born  after  the  admission  of  the  State  should 
be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  The 
House  adopted  the  amendment.  The  Senate 
The  discussion  lasted  long.  The  whole  coun- 
try was  aroused  to  a  high  pitch  of  excitement.  Now 
Maine,  about  to  separate  from  Massachusetts,  asked  ad- 

*  Arkansas  was  organized  as  a  Territory  in  1819,  but  not  till  1824 
were  the  boundaries,  here  marked,  established. 


The  Missouri 
controversy. 

rejected  it. 


306  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

mission  as  a  State.  The  friends  of  slavery  sought  to  make 
the  admission  of  Maine  dependent  on  the  admission  of  Mis- 
souri without  the  Tallmadge  amendment.  A  compromise 
was  finally  agreed  npon  (1820).  It  provided  for  the  ad- 
mission of  Missouri  as  a  slave  State,  but  with  this  exception 
there  was  to  be  no  slavery  in  the  Territory  purchased  from 
France  under  the  name  of  Louisiana  north  of  the  line  36° 
30'.     Maine  was  also  admitted.* 

A  question  of  considerable  interest  was  discussed  in  the 

course  of  the    debate.     Could   Congress   place   conditions 

upon  the  admission  of  a  State  ?    It  was  strongly 

Constitutional     arguea  that  it  could,  and  as  strongly  that  it 

questions.  °  •  -.        •  i 

could  not.  This  can  be  said  with  some  cer- 
tainty, that  Congress  can  make  no  conditions  permanently 
binding  upon  a  State  which  would  deprive  it  of  equality 
with  other  States.  Congress  has  power  to  admit  new  States 
into  this  Union,f  and  "this  Union,"  it  was  cogently  and 
rightly  said,  is  a  union  of  equal  States.  When  the  bills 
came  before  Monroe  he  hesitated  to  sign  them.  Was  it 
within  the  power  of  Congress  to  banish  slavery  from  this 
Western  land  ?  He  finally  signed  the  bills,  and  there  seemed 
in  1820  to  be  a  general  belief  that  the  compromise  was  con- 
stitutional. 

When  Missouri  presented  herself  for  final  admission  into 
the  Union,  it  was  discovered  that  the  Constitution  con- 
tained a  clause  forbidding  the  entrance  of  free 
The  second         negroes.     This  caused  difficulty  anew;  but  a 

compromise.  °  ^  ' 

compromise  was  adopted,  through  Clay  s  eftort, 
whereby  Missouri  was  admitted,  but  with  the  understand- 
ing that  citizens  of  other  States  should  not  be  deprived  of 

*  The  line  of  3G°  30'  is  the  northern  line  of  North  Carolina.  The 
northern  boundary  of  Tennessee  varies  slightly  from  this  parallel,  run- 
ning somewhat  to  the  north,  between  the  mountains  and  the  Cumber- 
land River.  West  of  the  river  the  line  of  36°  30'  is  the  northern 
boundary. 

f  Constitution,  art.  iv,  sec.  3. 


ADMINISTRATION   OP   MONROE— 1817-1825.  307 

their  rights  under  the  Federal  Constitution  of  going  to 
Missouri.*  «• 

Thus  the  cleavage  between  slavery  and  freedom  was 
clearly  marked  by  a  geographical  line.  This  whole  bitter 
controversy  showed  the  people  how  they  differed. 
sTJt0io^sstinct  It  rang  out,  said  the  aged  Jefferson,  "  like  a 
fire-bell  in  the  night."  There  were  now  two  sec- 
tions well  defined,  differing  more  and  more  as  the  years  went 
by  in  industrial  and  social  makeup.  For  each  succeeding  year 
the  South  was  more  under  the  influence  of  this  one  institu- 
tion, while  the  North  was  developing  like  the  rest  of  the 
civilized  world,  free  from  the  weight  of  slavery. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  of  the  Missouri  question 
the  election  of  1820  occurred.  Monroe  was  again  elected, 
this  time  with  but  one  dissenting  vote.  The 
Jnstcf1011  Federalists  were  now  no  more.  In  New  Eng- 
land some  still  remained  as  a  sort  of  social 
reminiscence,  but  they  could  not  be  called  a  party.  There 
were  grounds  for  differences  of  opinion,  but  parties  did 
not  form  again  until  some  years  later. 

One  of  the  most  important  problems  that  arose  in  these 
years  grew  out  of  our  relations  with  the  states  of  Central 
and  South  America.  After  the  close  of  the 
American  States  Napoleonic  wars,  all  the  Spanish  continental 
and  the  Holy  colonies  from  Mexico  to  the  far  south,  one  by 
one,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and  finally 
succeeded  in  sustaining  themselves  as  independent  powers. 
At  this  same  time  the  so-called  "  Holy  Alliance  "  was  formed 
in  Europe,  made  up  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs  of  the 
Continent.  Its  chief  aim  was  to  check  the  growth  of  de- 
mocracy, and  to  strengthen  the  hold  of  absolutism  on  the 
people.  As  long  as  the  work  of  the  Holy  Alliance  was  con- 
fined to  Europe  we  had  no  ground  of  complaint ;  but  there 
began  to  be  signs  that  government  by  the  people  was  not 

*  See  Constitution,  art.  iv,  sec.  2,  §  1. 


308  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

safe  from  interference  even  on  this  continent ;  that  efforts 
would  be  made  to  overthrow  the  free  governments  set  up 
in  Central  and  South  America,  and  compel  the  return  of 
these  states  to  Spanish  control.  In  addition  to  this  trouble, 
our  Government  was  somewhat  uneasy  over  the  fact  that 
Russia  showed  an  inclination  to  creep  down  the  western 
coast  of  North  America  and  to  claim  land  considerably 
south  of  what  might  justly  be  considered  her  right. 

Under   these   circumstances  Monroe   sent  to  Congress 
(December,  1823)  a  message  which  contained  a  statement 

of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States. 
doctrine!10         There  were  two  chief  propositions  :  That  any 

attempt  on  the  part  of  the  European  powers 
"  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  " 
would  be  considered  "  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety," 
and  that  any  effort  to  oppress  the  South  American  states 
or  to  control  their  destiny  would  be  viewed  as  a  "  manifesta- 
tion of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  United  States." 
Second — as  a  warning  to  Russia — that  the  American  conti- 
nents were  no  longer  "to  be  considered  as  subjects  for 
future  colonization  by  any  European  power."  The  next 
year  Russia  entered  into  a  treaty  with  us,  agreeing  not  to 
claim  territory  south  of  54°  40',  the  present  southern  bound- 
ary of  Alaska.*  Monroe's  message  undoubtedly  made  the 
Holy  Alliance  pause  and  consider.  England  was  in  sym- 
pathy with  our  action.  "  This  crowning  effort  of  Monroe's 
career  contrasted  well  with  that  to  which  it  stood  opposed, 

*  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  as  it  was  announced  in  1823,  had  its  roots 
in  the  past  (see  Gilman's  Monroe,  chap.  vii).  And  it  now  means  more 
than  it  did  in  1823.  "  On  its  negative  side  it  is  a  strong  jealousy 
in  respect  to  European  interference  in  any  and  all  matters  that  are 
peculiarly  American,  and  particularly  North  American.  In  a  word,  it 
is  the  national  resolution  to  assert  and  to  maintain  the  leadership  that 
the  people  believe  both  Nature  and  history  have  assigned  to  them  on 
the  two  continents."  It  is  a  sentiment  produced  by  historical  and  geo- 
graphical conditions;  it  is  in  no  proper  sense  a  principle  of  inter- 
national law. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  MONROE— 1817-1825. 


309 


The  tariff  of 
1824. 


for  the  main  motive  was  to  shelter  honorably  these  tender 
blossoms  of  liberty  on  kindred  soil  from  the  cold  Siberian 
blasts  of  despotism."  * 

In  1824  there  was  a  demand  for  another  tariff  act  mate- 
rially increasing  the  duties  on  imported  goods.  Clay  was 
the  leader  in  this  movement,  while  Webster 
vigorously  opposed  it,  as  he  had  the  act  of  181 G. 
Clay  advocated  what  he  called  a  "genuine 
American  policy,"  the  object  of  which  was  to  build  up 
home  industry  and  give  a  home  market  for  American  prod- 
ucts. The  act  was  passed,  but 
the  majority  in  both  houses 
was  very  small.  The  vote 
was  sectional,  too — an  ominous 
fact — for  the  South  was  vig- 
orously opposed  to  a  protective 
tariff,  on  the  ground  that  it  en- 
riched the  manufacturer  at  the 
expense  of  the  agriculturist. 

The  election  of  1824  was 
rather  a  personal  than  a  party 
contest.  There  were  many 
questions  of  public  policy 
about  which  persons  might 
honestly  differ,  especially  in- 
ternal improvements  and  the 
tariff  ;  but  as  yet  men  had  not 
organized  to  defend  their  be- 
liefs on  these  matters.  In 
those  days  candidates  for  the  presidency  were  not  pre- 
sented by   national  conventions,  as   they  are  now.f     The 


*  Schouler's  History,  vol.  iii,  p.  291. 

f  Washington  and  Adams  were  not  nominated  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  word  at  all.  There  was  a  general  understanding  that  they  were 
to  be  voted  for.  The  caucus  system  of  nomination  was  not  fully  estab- 
lished until  1800.     See  Hinsdale,  The  American  Government,  chap.  xxx. 


310  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

"regular"  nomination  was  made  by   a   "caucus"  of  the 

members  of  Congress.     Such  a  caucus,  composed  of  only  a 

minority  of  the  Eepublican  congressmen,  nomi- 

Jfhi824Cti0n  nated  William  H-  Crawford,  of  Georgia.  Craw- 
ford was  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
for  some  time  he  had  been  much  broken  and  at  times 
physically  unable  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office.  The 
nomination  of  a  man  in  his  condition,  and  that,  too,  by  a 
minority  of  the  members,  was  so  preposterous  that  the 
caucus  method  of  presenting  candidates  was  discredited. 
This  was  said  to  be  the  death  of  "  King  Caucus,"  for  this 
was  the  last  of  such  nominations.  Other  candidates  were 
named  for  this  election  by  State  Legislatures.  They  were 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Henry  Clay,  and  Andrew  Jackson. 
The  result  of  the  contest  was  surprising.  Adams  received 
84  votes,  Crawford  41,  Henry  Clay  37,  while  Andrew 
Jackson,  whose  candidacy  had  in  many  quarters  not  been 
taken  seriously  because  of  his  lack  of  experience  in  po- 
litical affairs,  received  99  votes.  The  choice  of  one  from 
the  three  highest  candidates  was  thus  thrown  upon  the 
House  of  Kepresentatives.  Clay,  whose  influence  in  Con- 
gress was  great,  favored  Adams,  and  the  New  Englander 
was  elected,  much  to  the  disgust  of  Jackson's  friends,  who 
claimed  that  the  will  of  the  people  had  been  disregarded, 
and  that  Adam*  and  Clay  had  entered  into  a  corrupt 
bargain.  There  was  no  difficulty  about  the  vice-presi- 
dency, Calhoun  having  been  elected  without  serious  oppo- 
sition. 

The  "  era  of  good  feeling  "  was  at  an  end.     There  had 
been  more  or  less  ill  feeling  all  the  time.     Political  ques- 
tions had  often  been  bitterly  discussed,  and  per- 

Endd°ffeiin°f  sonal  animus  nad  often  taken  tne  Place  of 
political  principle.  As  yet,  however,  parties 
with  principles  were  not  formed.  For  some  years  after  this 
men  spoke  of  "Jackson  men"  and  "Adams  men."  But 
the  elements  of  party  organization  were  at  hand,  and  out 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  JOHN  Q.  ADAMS— 1825-1829.    311 

of  the  bitterness  of  personal  contests  parties  with  principles 
were  sure  soon  to  arise. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Hart,  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  231-252; 
Gilman,  James  Monroe,  Chapters  VI  and  VII;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay, 
Volume  I,  pp.  126-258;  Von  Hoist,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Chapter  III; 
Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams,  pp.  102-177;  Higginson,  Larger  His- 
tory, Chapters  XVI  and  XVII.  Longer  accounts:  Schouler,  His- 
tory, Volume  III,  pp.  1-335.  The  pupil  will  be  entertained  by  the 
fascinating  series  of  chapters  in  McMaster,  Volume  IV,  which  treat 
topically  the  different  phases  of  this  period  of  reorganization  and 
readjustment.  Read  especially  Chapters  XXX-XXXIX,  and,  above 
all,  Chapter  XXXIII. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS— 1825-1829. 

When  John  Quincy  Adams  came  to  the  presidential 
chair  he  was  in  his  fifty-eighth  year.     He  had  been  for 

thirty    years    in 
itT07       Public  life.      He 

had  been  foreign 
minister,  senator,  and,  during 
Monroe's  administrations,  Sec- 
retary of  State.  His  charac- 
ter was  beyond  reproach.  He 
was  scrupulously  honest,  his 
straightforwardness  amount- 
ing to  bluntness.  He  was 
ambitious,  but  not  meanly  self- 
seeking,  and  he  devoted  him- 
self untiringly  and  unselfishly 
to  the  duties  of  his  office.  He 
was  not  actuated  by  petty 
motive,  and  never  consented 
to  make  use  of  improper  means  to  secure  power  or  influ- 
ence. Able  as  well  as  honest,  he  was  one  of  the  best 
21 


CXA*TiJ>, 


312  HISTORY  OF  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 

officers  that  ever  served  a  people.  High-minded  himself, 
he  demanded  purity  in  others,  and  his  caustic  criticism 
of  the  motives  and  acts  of  his  fellows  often  estranged 
those  whom  he  might  have  won  as  his  friends.  He  was 
formal  and  cold  in  his  manners,  and  had  no  great  tact  or 
talent  as  a  political  leader. 

Adams  made   Clay  his  Secretary  of  State.      It  was  a 

natural  choice ;  for  the  two  men  thought  alike  on  political 

issues,  and  Clay  certainly  merited  the  distinc- 

Charges  of         Hon.     But  the  appointment  gave  countenance 

corruption.  ■■  i  • 

to  those  who  asserted  that,  by  making  promise 
of  the  secretaryship,  Adams  had  secured  his  own  election. 
The  charge  was  utterly  unfounded ;  but  it  was  believed  by 
many,  and  had  no  little  effect  on  the  public  mind.  Through- 
out the  administration,  the  friends  of  Jackson  proclaimed 
without  ceasing  that  the  "  people's  candidate  "  had  been 
defrauded  of  his  rights.* 

There  was  much  personal  bitterness  during  these  four 
years.     The  people  were  divided  into  "  Adams  men  "  and 

"  Jackson  men."  Yet  the  elements  of  distinct 
Beginnings  of     political    parties    with    real     principles    were 

new  parties.  -1  r  r  r 

clearly  enough  in  existence,  and  Adams,  both 
by  selecting  the  founder  of  the  "  American  system  "  as  his 
Secretary  of  State,  and  by  favoring  in  his  first  message  a 
broad  and  liberal  policy  for  the  National  Government,  ac- 
tually announced  the  beginnings  of  a  new  party.  The 
message  advocated  appropriations  for  roads  and  canals,  and 


*  John  Randolph,  a  master  of  malicious  abuse,  referred  to  the  "cor- 
rupt coalition  between  the  Puritan  and  blackleg,"  and  called  the 
administration  a  "  puritanic-diplomatic-blacklegged  administration." 
Clay  challenged  him  to  a  duel,  and  a  meeting  occurred.  Neither  was 
injured.  Benton  records  the  affair,  and  ends :  "  On  Monday  the  parties 
exchanged  cards  and  social  relations  were  .  .  .  restored.  Tt  was  about 
the  last  high-toned  duel  thai  I  have  witnessed,  and  among  the  highest 
toned  that  I  have  ever  witnessed."  fortunately  we  have  outgrown  that 
•■■mli'i  ton  "f  societ  \ . 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  Q.  ADAMS— 1825-1829.     313 


advised  the  establishment  of  a  national  university  and  the 
creation  of  an  astronomical  observatory — "  a  lighthouse  of 
the  skies."  Such  words  natural- 
ly antagonized  many  who  were 
averse  to  such  appropriations. 
Adams  and  others  did  not  see  the 
situation.  They  did  not  see  that 
the  old  party  was  torn  asunder, 
and  that  two  new  parties  were 
at  hand  ;  they  considered  the  dif- 
fering factions  as  wings  of  the 
old  Republican  party.  Except  by 
making  a  clear  statement  of  prin- 
ciples, nothing  was  done  by  the 
President  to  organize  an  Admin- 
istration party.  The  friends  of 
liberal  construction  and  of  the  tariff  formed  slowly  around 
Clay  as  their  leader,  rather  than  around  Adams,  and  began 
before  1828  to  call  themselves  "  National  Republicans." 
The  strict-constructionists  called  themselves  Democratic 
Republicans,  and  before  many  years  were  commonly  known 
as  Democrats. 

Owing  to  a  number  of  causes,  a  good  many  persons 
joined  the  party  opposed  to  the  Administration,  not  because 
they  objected  to  internal  improvements  or  like 
measures,  but  because  they  disliked  Adams 
and  liked  Jackson.  So  this  party,  which  in- 
cluded the  strict-constructionists,  was  for  some  time  uncer- 
tain of  its  own  policy.  Indeed,  the  exact  views  of  Jackson 
himself  were  uncertain.  Through  these  years  many  persors 
summed  up  their  political  creed  in  the  war-cry,  "  Hurrah 
for  Jackson ! "  and  it  proved  in  itself  an  unanswerable 
argument.  And  yet,  although  fit  first  the  party  of  opposi 
bion,  as  Buch  parties  are  apt  to  be,  wag  somewhat  uncertain 
in  it.--  beliefs  and  fundamental  principles,  and  contained  * 
number  of  incoherent  elements,  nevertheless  the  differing 


Their 
characteristics 


314  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

factions  of  the  old  Republican  party  were,  before  the  next 
election,  formed  into  parties,  each  with  its  own  character- 
istics and  natural  tendencies.  The  Rational  Republican 
party  was  similar  in  some  respects  to  the  old  Federalists ; 
but  it  cast  away,  as  unsuited  to  American  politics,  the 
exclusive,  superior  tone  which  had  characterized  the  fol- 
lowers of  Hamilton.  The  people  at  large  were  appealed  to 
by  both  parties ;  but  the  natural  enthusiasm  for  Jackson, 
"  the  man  of  the  people,"  called  into  the  -ranks  of  the 
opposition  the  masses  of  the  people  and  made  it  a  real 
democratic  party. 

The  times  naturally  called  for  opinion  and  action  with 

regard  to  internal  improvements.     The  rapid  building  up 

of  the  West  increased  rather  than  diminished 

the  demand  for  roads  and  other  means  of  corn- 
improvements. 

munication.  A  few  years  before  this  the  State 
of  New  York  had  begun  to  make  the  Erie  Canal,  and  in 
1825  it  was  finished.  De  Witt  Clinton,  for  some  years 
governor  of  the  State,  devoted  himself  earnestly  to  the 
undertaking,  and  the  success  of  the  enterprise  was  due  to 
his  untiring  energy.  The  canal  was  first  ridiculed  as 
"  Clinton's  ditch,"  but  the  results  justified  the 
faith  and  the  unflagging  zeal  of  its  advocates. 
The  most  enthusiastic  person  could  scarcely  have  foreseen 
the  influence  of  this  canal  on  building  up  the  commerce  of 
New  York  city  and  enriching  the  State.*  By  means  of  it 
emigrants  from  the  East  found  their  way  westward.  The 
States  and  Territories  of  the  Northwest  grew  rapidly  in 
population,  and  poured  their  products  back  to  the  cities  of 
the  coast  for  consumption  or  transportation.  "  At  this 
epoch,"  we  are  told,  "  the  history  of  modern  New  York 
properly  begins."  From  this  time,  too,  the  Northwest 
enters  upon  a  new  phase  of  its  life.     In  1826  there  were 

*  This  canal,  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  miles  in  length,  con- 
necting the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Hudson,  is  still  of 
great  commercial  value. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  Q.  ADAMS— 1825-1829.     315 

no  less  than  seven  steamers  on  Lake  Erie,  and  four 
years  later  a  daily  line  was  running  between  Detroit  and 
Buffalo. 

Other  States,  moved  by  the  enterprise  of   New  York, 
were  now  eager  for  canals.     All  sorts  of  projects  were  in 
men's  minds,  and  some  of  them  were  under- 
National  aid  for  t}lken>     Therc  naturally  also  a  desire  for 

improvements.       .  f 

the  assistance  of  the  National  Government, 
and  somewhat  liberal  appropriations  for  internal  improve- 
ments were  given  during  this  administration.  But  zeal  for 
such  national  expenditure  was  partly  sectional ;  the  South 
looked  somewhat  jealously  upon  the  improvements  which 
enriched  the  commercial  States  of  the  North.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  the  plan  of  appropriating  money  for  the 
improvement  of  harbors  was  entered  upon  as  early  as 
1823. 

Another  means  of  transportation  than  the  slowly  moving 
canal  boat  soon  won  and  absorbed  the  attention  of  the 
people.  Horse  railroads  had  been  in  use  for 
some  little  time,  and  various  efforts  had  been 
made  both  in  this  country  and  in  England  to  use  steam  as 
a  motive  force.*  As  early  as  1814  George  Stephenson,  an 
Englishman,  invented  a  "travelling  engine,"  which  he 
named  "My  Lord."  Some  years  later  (1825)  the  Stockton 
and  Darlington  Railway  was  opened,  and  Stephenson  acted 
as  engineer  on  a  trial  trip  of  his  new  locomotive.  The  suc- 
cess of  this  enterprise  encouraged  the  building  of  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway.  On  this  line  (1829) 
Stephenson  tried  the  Rocket,  which  sped  away  at  the 
astounding  pace  of  twenty-nine  miles  an  hour.  "  Canal 
property  is  ruined,"  wrote  a  correspondent  from  London  ; 

*  The  earliest  roads  were  built  with  wooden  rails,  and  afterward  these 
were  covered  with  bands  or  strips  of  iron.  Horses  furnished  the  motive 
power.  The  first  road  of  this  kind  seems  to  have  been  built  as  early  M 
1807,  in  Boston.  The  first  steam  locomotive  used  in  this  country  was 
brought  from  England  in  1829,  and  was  called  the  *  Stourbridge  Lion." 


316 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


"  in  fact  they  are  even  anticipating  that  it  may  be  necessary 
to  let  the  canals  dry  and  to  lay  rails  on  them." 

Meantime  inventors  and  capitalists  were  at  work  in 
America.  Indeed,  the  success  of  the  Stockton  and  Darling- 
ton Railway  seems  to  have  produced  a  greater 
impression  on  this  side  of  the  water  than  in 
England.  Xew  York  was  already  reaping  the 
benefit  of  the  Erie  Canal,  but  the  cities  farther  smith  were 
still  without  easy  means  of  communication  with  the  West. 
Both  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  seem  to  have  felt  the  loss 

BOSTON  AND  WORCESTER   RAIL  ROAD.] 


Railroads  in 
America. 


THE  Passenger  Cars  will  continue  lo  run  daily  from  the 
Drpol  near  Washington  street,  lo  Newton,  al  6  and 
10  o'clock,  A.M.  and  at  34  o'clock,  P.  11.  and 

Returning,  leave  Newion  at  7  and  a  quarter  past  II,  A.M. 
and  a  quarter  before  5,  P.M. 

Tickets  for  the  passage  either  way  may  be  had  at  the 
T»ckei  Office,  No. 017,  Washington  street  ;  price  3i£  cents 
each  ;a»id  lor  the  return  passage,  of  the  Master  of  the  Car  it 
Newton. 

By  order  oXthe  President  and  Directors. 

a  29  epistf  F.  A   WILLIAMS,  Clerk. 


Advertisp:ment  of  the  First  Passenger  Train  in  Massachusetts, 

May,  1834. 

of  Western  trade,  which  was  now  deflected  to  New  York. 
A  railroad  was  determined  upon,  and  in  1827  a  charter 
was  issued  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road.  July  4,  1828, 
work  was  actually  begun,  the  first  act  being  done  by  Charles 
Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the  only  living  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  He  is  said  to  have  exclaimed :  "  I 
consider  this  among  the  most  important  acts  of  my  life, 
second  only  to  that  of  signing  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, if  second  to  that."  Two  years  later  a  short 
section  of  this  road  was  opened  for  traffic.     In  South  Caro- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  Q.    ADAMS— 1825-1829.    317 

lina,  too,  a  road  was  built  running  from  Charleston  to  Ham- 
burg, and  in  1833  this  road  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
miles  in  length,  then  the  longest  road  in  the  world.* 

In  1840  there  were  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighteen  miles  of  railroad  in  operation,  and  as  the  years 
went  by  the  mileage  increased.  But  no  one  in  those  early 
years  could  foresee  the  immense  development  of  railroads, 
and  the  great  changes  they  were  to  make  in  the  life  of  the 
nation.  The  first  lines  connected  neighboring  cities,  or 
furnished  outlets  from  the  coal  regions  to  the  sea;  but  in 
time  the  long  trunk  lines  were  constructed,  stretching 
across  the  country,  binding  the  land  together  into  an  in- 
dustrial unit.  Wherever  men  are  gathered  together,  there 
the  railroad  now  goes  to  serve  them,  ready  to  carry  the 
products  of  their  toil  to  market  and  to  bring  back  what 
they  wish  in  exchange. f 

The  political  significance  of  the  railroad  was  almost  as 

great  as  its  social  and  industrial  significance.     The  East 

and  West  were  made  one ;  the  strong  ties  of 

The  political  commercial  interest  and  the  fellowship  of 
significance.  r 

social  communication  bound  the  States  of  the 

coast  to  their  younger  sisters  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  old  saying  that  a  free  government  could  not  exist 
over  a  wide  expanse  of  territory  was  bereft  of#  meaning,  for, 
as  the  railroads  were  built  into  the  West,  Michigan  and 
Illinois  became  the  next-door  neighbors  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut. 

For  some  years  Georgia  had  been  anxious  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  land  of  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians  within 
the  limits  of  that  State.  These  tribes  were  already  civil- 
ized.' The  Cherokees  especially  were  well  advanced.  They 
had  churches,  schools,  and   courts  of  law,  and   had  well- 

*  Interesting  data  are  given  in  Encyclopaedia  Americana,  vol.  iv, 
p.  296. 

f  An  admirable  short  essay  on  the  railroads  and  their  functions  in 
Shaler's  The  United  States  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  65-131. 


31$  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

tilled  fields  and  comfortable  homes.  The  presence  of  such 
independent   bodies  within  the   State,  not   subject  to   its 

laws,  was  unnatural.  Georgia  desired  the  In- 
Georgiaand        dians'   lands,   and   was    not   willing    to   wait. 

She  demanded  the  immediate  removal  of  the 
tribes  beyond  the  Mississippi.  A  treaty  was  made  by 
the  National  Government  providing  for  the  sale  of  most 
of  the  land  of  the  Creeks.  But  Georgia  would  not  wait 
until  the  time  came  for  carrying  out  the  treaty.  State 
surveyors  were  ordered  into  the  territory  of  the  Creeks. 
The  President  forbade  the  survey.*  At  first  the  State 
obeyed,  but  finally  became  very  impatient.  The  Governor 
announced  the  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty,  and  asserted 
that  the  State  had  an  equal  authority  with  the  United 
States  "  to  pass  upon  its  rights."  Adams  was  prepared  to 
protect  the  Indians  in  their  property,  and  ordered  the 
United  States  District  Attorney  and  the  marshal  to  arrest 
any  one  endeavoring  to  survey  the  Indian  lands  west  of  a 
certain  line.  The  Governor  prepared  for  resistance,  and 
ordered  the  militia  officers  of  the  State  to  be  in  readiness 
with  their  forces  to  repel  invasion.  The  majority  in  Con- 
gress were  opposed  to  Adams  and  did  not  wish  to  support 
him,  and  he  hesitated,  naturally,  to  bring  on  civil  war  on 
such  an  issue.  The  Creeks  were  soon  compelled  to  leave 
their  lands.  About  the  same  time  encroachments  were 
made  upon  the  Cherokee  territory,  and  the  final  outcome 
was  much  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  Creeks.  Georgia 
successfully  maintained  her  "  sovereignty."  f 

*  Indian  affairs  have  always  been  under  the  control  of  the  Federal 
Government.  Congress  is  given  power  to  regulate  commerce  with 
Indian  tribes.  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  vii,  §3.  Moreover,  the 
Creeks  and  the  Federal  Government  had  entered  into  treaties. 

f  This  trouble  with  Georgia  has  its  political  significance  in  the  fact 
that  the  State  maintained,  in  some  measure,  its  authority  against  the 
Government.  It  is  also  significant  as  an  episode  in  the  process  of 
transferring  the  Indians  to  reservations  in  the  West.  The  plan  of 
confining  them  to  reservations  was  fully  carried  out  in  the  course  of  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  JOHN  Q.   ADAMS— 1825-1829.    319 


The  tariff  of 
1828. 


The  manufacturing  interests  of  the  Northern  States  were 
rapidly  growing  through  these  years ;  but  in  some  respects, 
especially  in  the  making  of  woolen  goods,  Eng- 
lish factories  seemed  to  have  the  advantage. 
There  was  a  demand  by  the  manufacturers  for 
a  higher  tariff  and  more  protection.  In  1828  a  bill  for  the 
purpose  was  introduced.  All  the  interests  of  the  country 
began  at  once  to  push  and  scramble  for  recognition.  The 
result  was  what  is  commonly  known  as  the  "  tariff  of  abom- 
inations." It  was  an  "economic  monstrosity."  The  rate 
of  duty  on  many  articles, 
including  raw  materials 
for  manufactures,  was 
very  high.  So  much  had 
the  coming  presidential 
election  been  kept  in 
view,  that  John  Ran- 
dolph declared  in  a  bit- 
ing phrase,  "  The  bill  re- 
ferred to  manufactures 
of  no  sort  or  kind  ex- 
cept the  manufacture  of 
a  President  of  the  United 
States." 

The  South  had  now 
become  bitterly  opposed  to  a  tariff.  It  seemed  to  enrich 
the  Northerner,  and  to  make  the  Southerner  pay  an  en- 
hanced price  for  all  the  goods  which  he 
bought.  There  were  at  the  South  no  fac- 
tories, or  nearly  none ;  the  people  therefore 
did  not  seek  protection.  Randolph  said  that  the  bill  was 
intended   "to   rob   and   plunder   one   half   of   the   Union 

century.  During  Jackson's  administration  the  Cherokee  lands  were 
occupied,  and  Georgia  successfully  opposed  the  authority  of  the  Federal 
court.  See  Schouler,  History,  vol.  iv,  pp.  233-235 ;  Sumner,  Andrew 
Jackson,  pp.  180-183. 


South  opposed 
to  the  tariff. 


320  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

for  the  benefit  of  the  residue."  South  Carolina  protested 
against  the  law,  asserting  that  it  was  unconstitutional, 
and  an  abuse  of  power  incompatible  with  free  govern- 
ment. "  The  interests  of  South  Carolina,"  she  said,  "  are 
agricultural,  and  to  cut  oif  her  foreign  market  and  to 
confine  her  products  to  an  inadequate  home  market  is  to 
reduce  her  to  poverty."  The  defenders  of  the  American 
system  argued  that  the  South  derived  a  benefit  from  the 
fact  that  the  tariff  made  a  home  market,  and  thus  brought 
a  market  nearer  to  the  cotton  States,  and  therefore  increased 
the  price  of  cotton.  But  the  planters  did  not  admit  the 
truth  or  force  of  this  argument. 

Because  of  the  President's  advocacy  of  internal  improve- 
ments, and  because  of  the  passage  of  the  tariff  bill,  for 
which  the  National  Kepublicans  were  largely 
'ri828Ctl0n  responsible,  a  strong  and  united  opposition  was 
formed  against  Adams  before  the  end  of  his 
administration.  The  South  was  a  unit  against  him,  and 
the  foes  of  internal  improvements  at  the  North  were  op- 
posed to  his  policy.  Moreover,  Jackson  was  everywhere 
hailed  as  the  people's  friend,  the  man  of  the  common 
people,  while  Adams  was  denounced  as  an  aristocrat,  who 
felt  himself  above  the  ordinary  man.  There  was  an  out- 
burst of  popular  enthusiasm  for  the  "  hero  of  New  Orleans." 
Now  it  must  be  noted  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  Gov- 
ernment the  high  offices  of  state  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
trained  statesmen,  and  the  presidency  had  been  given  to 
men  of  learning  and  experience.  But  in  1828  the  people 
had  grown  confident — overconfident — and  ready  to  resent 
the  insinuation  that  they  needed  educated  or  experienced 
statesmen  to  lead  them  or  show  them  the  way.  The  West, 
which  was  enthusiastic  for  Jackson,  was  accustomed  to  give 
its  allegiance  to  a  downright  forcible  character  like  "  Old 
Hickory,"  who  had  succeeded  in  what  he  had  undertaken, 
and  had  whipped  the  British  and  the  Indians  with  equal 
thoroughness  and  skill.     And  so  Adams  found  himself  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHN  Q.    ADAMS— 1825-1829.     321 

candidate  of  the  North  and  East,  and  defended  by  the 
more  conservative  elements  of  society,  who  dreaded  what 
they  considered  a  democratic  upheaval,  and  feared  the 
election  of  a  new  and  untried  man  to  the  presidency. 
Richard  Rush,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  candidate  of  the 
National  Republicans  for  Vice-President.  Calhoun  held 
second  place  on  the  Jackson  ticket.  Jackson  received  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  electoral  votes,  while  Adams  re- 
ceived only  eighty-three.  The  popular  vote  of  the  National 
Kepubliuans  was  large,  however,  and  this  showed  that  a 
strong  conservative  party  was  in  existence. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Hart,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  245- 
262  ;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  Chapter  XI  ;  Morse,  J.  Q. 
Adams,  pp.  189-225 ;  Burgess,  Middle  Period,  pp.  145-166.  Longer 
account :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  III,  pp.  336-449. 


•      :*"V2CK> 


Marietta,  Ohio,  in  Early  Days. 
The  picture  illustrates  the  manner  in  which  ruauy  of  the  principal  cities 
in  Ohio  and  the  West  began.     From  an  old  drawing  now  preserved  in 
Columbus,  Ohio. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Democracy  and  Slavery — Industrial  and  Economic  Contro- 
versies—The Annexation  of  Texas— 1829-1845. 


Andrew 
Jackson 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON— 1829-1837. 

Andrew  Jackson"  is  one  of  the  most  striking  figures  in 
American  history,  and  few  persons  have  played  a  more  im- 
portant part.  He  was  born  in  South  Carolina 
in  1767,  of  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  stock.  When 
he  was  twenty-one  he  moved  to  Nashville.  He 
studied  law,  and  when  Tennessee  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  he  became  the  first  representative  from  the  State 

in  Congress.  Soon  afterwards 
he  became  Senator,  but  held 
the  position  only  a  short  time. 
"  When  I  was  President  of 
the  Senate,"  wrote  Jefferson 
at  a  later  time,  "be  was  a 
Senator,  and  he  could  never 
speak  on  account  of  the  rash- 
ness of  his  feelings.  I  have 
seen  him  attempt  it  repeat- 
edly, and  as  often  choke  with 
rage."  Until  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  of  1812  Jackson 
was  most  of  the  time  in  pri- 
vate life,  not  in  public  office. 
His  surroundings  were  those 
of  a  rough  frontier  community,  and  we  read  of  his  taking 
part  in  duels  and  quarrels  that  were  typical  of  the  crude 
322 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  323 

life  of  the  young  and  energetic  Southwest  of  those  days. 
For  it  can  not  be  denied  that,  with  much  that  was  sound 
and  wholesome,  there  was  a  good  deal  that  was  rude  and 
boisterous  in  the  life  of  these  new  States  beyond  the  moun- 
tains. Jackson,  in  his  downrightness  and  uprightness,  in 
his  promptness  to  resent  an  insult  and  to  fight  in  obedience 
to  the  code  of  honor,  was  a  true  son  of  his  surroundings. 
His  early  career  taught  him  to  love  his  friends  and  to  hate 
his  enemies.  He  was  strong  and  willful  and  full  of  energy, 
but  his  powers  were  undisciplined.  In  the  War  of  1812  he 
fought  with  characteristic  bravery  and  energy,  showing 
many  of  the  qualities  of  skillful  generalship.  In  the  Semi- 
nole War  (1818-'19)  he  crushed  the  hostile  Indians  of  the 
South  and  won  new  renown.  He  was  a  man  of  perfect  hon- 
esty, and  his  motives  were  good ;  he  had  a  warm  heart,  a 
quick  temper,  and  undoubted  ability ;  he  had  the  faculty  of 
winning  men  and  of  making  them  love  him.  The  coun- 
selors and  friends  that  surrounded  him  when  he  was  Presi- 
dent never  hid  him  from  view ;  he  stood  always  clearly  out 
before  the  people.  His  greatest  weakness  lay  in  the  fact 
that  designing  men,  his  friends,  could  play  upon  his  preju- 
dices, and  through  his  iron  will  accomplish  their  own  objects. 
Jackson  was  elected  in  1828  because  he  was  looked 
upon  as  a  candidate  of  the  common  people,  while  Adams 
was  declared  to  be  an  aristocrat  without  sym- 

KeSe.of    Pathy for  the  masses;  ft  was  said>  too>  that 

Jackson  had  been  defrauded  of  his  just  rights 
in  1824.  His  election  marks  an  era  in  our  politics  for 
many  reasons.  He  was  the  first  man  chosen  from  the  new 
West.  He  was  the  first  man  elected  President  who  had 
not  already  acquired  wide  knowledge  and  experience  in 
public  affairs.  The  election  of  this  self-made  man,  who 
was  put  forward  as  "  a  man  of  the  people,"  shows  that  in 
the  development  of  American  life  the  people  had  reached 
a  stage  of  self-confidence  and  assertion ;  they  felt  no  need 
of  trained  experts  in  statesmanship ;  they  desired  only  some 


324  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

one  who  would  fulfill  their  behests.  Perhaps  they  were 
overconfident,  and  there  was  certainly  something  wrong  in 
their  antagonism  to  an  experienced  man  like  Adams  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  an  aristocrat,  for  it  is  not  undemocratic 
to  place  in  public  office  the  best  of  trained  servants ;  but, 
nevertheless,  in  the  growth  of  a  popular  state  like  the 
United  States  it  is  only  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  peo- 
ple will  come  to  see  their  power  and  use  it ;  and  only  when 
they  know  their  power  can  they  feel  the  full  responsibili- 
ties of  citizenship. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Jackson's  accession  to  the  presidency 
national  office-holders  were  removed  only  for  inefficiency  or 
dishonesty.     Adams  removed  only  two  men  in 
Astern*18  his  whole  term,  and  these  not  for  political  rea- 

sons. Although  a  strong  party  was  arrayed 
against  him,  he  refused  to  use  public  office  to  reward  his 
friends.  Now,  Jackson  was  fully  persuaded  that  the  office- 
holders who  had  held  their  places  under  Adams  were  a  cor- 
rupt lot,  for  by  temperament  he  looked  upon  all  who  were 
not  his  friends  as  his  enemies,  and,  moreover,  he  believed 
that  the  Adams  administration  was  begotten  by  fraud,  and 
that  none  who  participated  in  it  merited  consideration.  In 
some  of  the  States  the  practice  of  using  public  office  as  a 
reward  to  political  friends  was  already  fully  established. 
Influenced  by  men  that  had  been  used  to  this  practice,  and 
hearing  the  outcry  against  aristocratic  office-holders,  Jack- 
son began  the  removal  of  men  who  were  opposed  to  him  in 
politics  and  filled  their  places  with  his  followers.*  Thus 
was  introduced  into  the  national  administration  the  "  spoils 
system,"  f  in  accordance  with  which  a  person  was  given 

*  There  were  more  men  removed  from  office  in  the  first  few  months 
of  Jackson's  administration  than  in  the  forty  years  preceding. 

f  Those,  words  seem  to  have  been  .adopted  from  a  speech  madp  by 
W.  I..  Marc;  in  the  Senate  in  1831.  "  It  maj  be,  sir,  thai  rhp  poli- 
n<-i;m-  of  Ne*  York  are  no!  so  fas!  idioua  as  -<>m  gentlemen  are  as  to 
disclosing  th<  principles  on  which  thej  act.  .  .  .  The;  see  nothing 
wrong  in  the  rule  that  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils  of  the  enemy." 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  325 

employment  in  the  public  service  not  because  he  was  com- 
petent and  trained  for  his  duties,  but  because  he  was  a 
faithful  partisan.  Jackson  was  honest  and  patriotic,  but 
he  was  instrumental  in  establishing  this  system,  which  has 
had  a  most  harmful  influence  upon  the  character  of  our 
national  politics. 

Jackson's  first  Cabinet  was  not  composed  of  men  of 
wide  experience  or  of  great  ability.  Martin  Van  Buren, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  was  probably  the  ablest  member. 
He  had  for  some  years  been  a  prominent  figure  in  the  poli- 
tics of  New  York.  He  was  shrewd  and  keen,  and  a  good 
manager  of  men ;  his  enemies  considered  him  underhanded 
and  dishonest,  but  he  was  by  no  means  devoid  of  states- 
manship. In  1831  Jackson  reorganized  his  Cabinet.  Van 
Buren  was  appointed  minister  to  England,  but  the  Senate 
refused  to  confirm,  the  nomination.  This  was  considered 
a  piece  of  spite,  and  helped  rather  than  hurt  his  political 
prospects.  The  new  Cabinet  was  abler  than  the  preceding. 
Edward  Livingston  became  Secretary  of  State ;  Louis  Mc- 
Lane,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of 
War ;  Levi  Woodbury,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ;  Roger  B. 
Taney,  Attorney-General.  These  were  all  men  of  strong 
character.  They  represented  the  organizing  forces  of  the 
new  Democratic  party.  Some  of  them  were  for  many  years 
prominent  and  influential  men  in  the  nation. 

Hardly  had  the  tariff  of  1828  been  passed  when  some  of 
the  Southern  States  began  to  show  their  strong  dislike  of 

the  protective  system.  South  Carolina  was 
John  0.  foremost  in  opposition,  and  John  C.  Calhoun 

was  her  leader  and  guide.  Calhoun  had  drifted 
wide  from  the  position  he  held  after  the  War  of  1812,  when 
he  advocated  a  broad  national  policy.  He  now  stood  forth  as 
the  champion  of  State  sovereignty,  and  devoted  himself  to 
h  defense  of  sectional  interests.  Slavery  bad  made  the 
South  peculiar.  WTiai  wm  good  policy  for  the  North  with 
diversified  industries,  might  be  injurious  to  the  South  with 


326 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


one  dominating  industry.  Calhoun,  a  clear,  incisive  speaker 
and  acute  reasoner,  claimed  that  the  Government  had  no 
authority  to  pass  laws  that  were  harmful  to  a  State  or  sec- 
tion. He  drew  up  a  careful 
statement  of  his  constitu- 
tional theories,  asserting  that 
each  State  was  wholly  sov- 
ereign, and  the  Constitu- 
tion only  an  agreement  or 
compact  between  sovereign 
States;  he  announced,  like- 
wise, the  doctrine  of  nulli- 
fication. State  sovereignty 
meant  this  :  that  each  State 
of  the  Union  was  not  sub- 
ject to  the  Constitution  as 
a  superior  law,  but  retained 
the  right  to  govern  itself 
wholly  if  it  so  preferred. 
From  State  sovereignty  came 
the  right  of  secession  ;  each  State  had  the  right  to  interpret 
the  Constitution  for  itself,  and,  if  it  chose,  to  withdraw  from 
the  Union  on  the  ground  that  the  agreement 
or  treaty  (the  Constitution)  had  been  broken, 
or  on  the  ground  that  its  interests  were  no  longer  furthered. 
In  accordance  with  this  theory,  the  relations  between  the 
various  States  were  just  the  same  as  they  would  be  between 
France,  England,  and  Spain  if  they  should  enter  into  a 
treaty  establishing  a  central  agent  to  which  certain  powers 
of  government  should  be  given  for  certain  purposes ;  each 
of  the  three  States  would  retain  its  full  sov- 
ereign character,  and  would  have  the  right 
to  withdraw  from  association  with  the  others 
when  it  chose.  Nullification  meant  the  right  of  a  State 
to  declare  null  and  void  any  act  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment which  it  considered  a  breach  of  the  compact  (the  Con- 


and 
nullification 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837. 


327 


The  great 
debate. 


stitution),  and  to  resist  the  enforcement  of  such  act  within 
its  limits.* 

In  1830  Senator  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  gave  utter- 
ance to  these  theories  in  the  Senate.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  parts,  and  his  presentation  of  Calhoun's 
theories  was  forcible.  Daniel  Webster  an- 
swered him  in  a  great  speech,  which  stands  to- 
day unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of  American  oratory.  Web- 
ster was  then  at  the  height  of  his  intellectual  vigor.  His 
eloquence  was  pure  and  great. 
No  orator  that  has  ever  spoken 
the  English  tongue  has  ex- 
celled him  in  the  beauty,  force, 
and  appropriateness  of  lan- 
guage. He  maintained,  in  re- 
ply to  Hayne,  that  the  Con- 
stitution was  a  law,  and  not  a 
mere  agreement ;  that  it  had 
the  force  of  law,  and  was  bind- 
ing on  each  and  every  State ; 
and  that  each  State  could  not 
at  will  interpret  the  Constitu- 
tion to  suit  its  interests.  He 
pointed  out  that  nullification 
must  be  only  interstate  anar- 
chy. The  speech  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  people 
of  the  country,  for  it  harmonized  well  with  the  predominat- 


Q1^^-  fay&tZ^ 


*  Under  this  theory  of  Calhoun,  a  State  would  nullify  while  it  re- 
mained in  the  Union,  but  secession  would  follow  in  case  the  obnoxious 
laws  were  enforced  against  its  will.  "  Should  the  other  members," 
wrote  Calhoun,  "  undertake  to  grant  the  power  nullified,  and  should  the 
nature  ...  be  such  as  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  .  .  .  Union,  at  least  so  far 
as  the  member  nullifying  is  concerned,  it  would  then  become  an  abuse 
of  power  on  the  part  of  the  principals  [the  other  States],  and  thus  pre- 
sent a  case  where  secession  would  apply."  Between  1828  and  1832 
Calhoun  fully  outlined  the  whole  logical  basis  of  secession.  Nothing 
needed  to  be  added  in  1861.  Read  Johnston,  Am.  Orations,  vol.  iii,  p.  321. 
22 


328  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ing  sentiment  at  the  North.     This  was  long  known  as  "  the 
great  debate  "  in  the  Senate. 

But  Calhoun's  doctrines  were  to  be  more  forcibly  de- 
picted than  by  mere  oratory.     In  1832  a  new  tariff  act  was 
passed.     This  was  more  moderate  than  the  one 
Nullification  in      f  four  yearg  before,  but  South  Carolina  pre- 

Sonth  Carolina,  J  x 

pared  to  protest  directly  against  it.  Under  the 
direction  of  Calhoun  the  steps  for  nullification  were  taken. 
A  convention  of  the  people  declared  the  tariff  law  null  and 
void,  forbade  its  execution  within  the  State,  and  threatened 
secession  from  the  Union  if  there  should  be  an  effort  to 
enforce  it.  This  was  November,  1832.  The  Ordinance  of 
Nullification  was  to  go  into  force  February  1,  1833. 

On  December  11th  Jackson  issued  his  famous  proclama- 
tion addressed  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina.     It  was 

full  of  fire  and  vigor.     It  was  at  once  strong, 

Jackson's  reasonable,    and    gentle.     "  The   laws    of    the 

proclamation.  '  & 

United  States  must  be  executed,  he  said. 
"  Those  who  told  you  that  you  might  peaceably  prevent 
their  execution  deceived  you.  .  .  .  Their  object  is  disunion, 
and  disunion  by  armed  force  is  treason."  The  people  of 
the  United  States  owe  Jackson  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude. 
His  name — a  name  of  power  for  many  years  to  come — was 
joined  with  the  idea  of  union  and  the  supremacy  of  the 
Constitution.  But  he  did  more  than  issue  a  proclama- 
tion :  he  made  preparation  to  enforce  the  law. 

Calhoun  resigned  the  vice-presidency,  and  was  elected 
Senator  from  his  State.     In  the  winter  a  tariff  bill,  called 

the   Compromise   Tariff   of   1833,  was  passed. 

This  provided  for  a  gradual  lowering  of  the 
duties.  Clay  was  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  com- 
promise. At  the  same  time  an  act  was  passed  known  as 
the  "  force  bill."  It  gave  the  President  means  of  enfor- 
cing the  law.  Thus  were  presented  to  South  Carolina  "  the 
rod  and  the  olive  branch  bound  up  together."  South  Caro- 
lina repealed  the  nullification  ordinance,  thus   accepting 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  329 

the  olive  branch,  while  she  ignored  the  threatening  rod. 
Danger  of  war  or  secession  was,  for  the  time  being,  gone. 

Through  the  summer  of  1832  a  contest  of  another  sort 
had  been  in  progress,  a  struggle  between  the  friends  and 
the  opponents  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  From  the  beginning  of  Jackson's  ad- 
ministration the  bank  had  been  more  or  less  under  fire. 
Jackson  himself  may  be  supposed  to  have  had  a  natural 
objection  to  it,  although  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
anxious  to  attack  it  until  it  was  hinted  to  him  that  the 
institution  was  using  its  power  for  political  purposes  against 
the  Administration.  This  was  doubtless  not  true  at  first. 
But  Jackson  in  various  messages  to  Congress  hinted  at  the 
dangers  of  such  a  moneyed  organization  and  the  unconsti- 
tutionality of  the  charter.  The  National  Republicans,  led 
by  Clay,  believed  that  the  bank  was  useful  and  desirable, 
and  thought  that  the  people  at  large  felt  the  same  way 
about  it.  In  1832,  though  the  charter  did  not  expire  till 
four  years  later,*  a  bill  was  passed  by  Congress  granting  a 
new  charter.  Jackson  vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ground  of  un- 
constitutionality, and  for  other  reasons. 

"  Bank  or  no  bank  "  was  one  of  the  chief  issues  of  the 
presidential  campaign  of  that  year.  Jackson  had  appealed 
to  a  wide  public  sentiment  when  he  objected 
Selection1  ^°  wna^  ne  considered  a  great  national  monop- 
oly, and  he  strengthened  his  case  in  some  quar- 
ters by  urging  that  the  bank  was  a  machine  for  making  the 
rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  Although  it  had  not  be- 
fore been  active  in  politics,  it  seems  that  under  strong 
temptation  the  bank  did  in  this  election  endeavor  to  influ- 
ence public  opinion.  It  did  nothing,  probably,  that  merits 
the  charge  of  corruption,  but  deep  hostility  was  engendered 
by  its  acts,  and  it  is  possible  that  its  conduct  pointed  to  a 
real  and  serious  danger. 

*  The  bank,  it  will  be  remembered,  obtained  a  charter  in  1816,  good 
for  twenty  years. 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

For  the  election  of  1832  candidates  were  presented  in  a 
novel  way.  National  conventions  now  assembled  for  the 
_T    .    x,  purpose  of  making  nominations.     At  this  time 

Nominating  r      r  o 

Convention,  there  was  a  new  organization  known  as  the 
l83i-'32.  Anti-Masonic  party.      The  formation   of  this 

party  was  due  to  the  existence  of  a  strong  feeling  against 
the  Masons,  who  were  charged  with  the  abduction  and 
murder  of  one  William  Morgan,  a  member  of  the  order  who 
had  threatened  to  disclose  its  secrets,  In  1831  this  party 
held  a  national  convention  and  nominated  William  Wirt 
for  the  presidency.  This  method  was  followed  by  the 
other  parties.  The  Democrats  nominated  Jackson  and 
Van  Buren  ;  the  National  Eepublicans  nominated  Clay  and 
John  Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Clay  was  a  natural  choice  of  his  party.  To  a  great  ex- 
tent it  had  formed  under  his  leadership,  and  he  represented 

its   chief  aims.     He   had  introduced  and  de- 
J  fended  the  American   system.     He  had  been 

consistently  in  favor  of  internal  improvements,  and  in 
other  respects  stood  for  a  very  broad  and  liberal  national 
policy.  He  was  a  natural  leader.  Men  felt  the  spell  of  his 
eloquence.  Though  not  so  keen  as  Calhoun,  nor  so  pro- 
found as  Webster,  he  had  the  faculty  of  inspiring  his  hear- 
ers by  his  fervid  appeals  and  filling  them  with  his  own 
enthusiasm.     Spite  of  Clay's  wide  popularity,  he  was  badly 

beaten  in  the  election.  Before  the  end  of 
and  the  Whig      another  presidential  term  his  followers  took  the 

name  of  Whigs.  The  name  itself,  recalling  the 
popular  one  by  which  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution  were 
known,  implied  that  Jackson's  methods  "  were  high-handed 
and  tyrannical."  * 

Jackson  now  felt  himself  fully  sustained  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  bank.  In  the  summer  of  1833  he  proceeded  to 
make  another  attack  upon  it.     The  charter  declared  that 

*  Jackson's  administration  is  sometimes  called  the  "  reign  of  An- 
drew Jackson." 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  331 

the  public  money  was  to  be  deposited  in  the  bank  "  unless 
the  Secretary   of   the   Treasury   shall   at   any  time  other- 
wise order  and  direct,  in  which  case  he  shall 

Removal  of  immediately  lay  before  Congress  .  .  .  the 
deposits,  1833.  .  ,  •,  -,  •       ?.        „      T     n 

reason  of  such  order  or  direction.       Jackson 

determined  to  remove  the  deposits.  In  order  to  accom- 
plish this  he  needed  to  make  some  changes  in  his  Cabinet. 
He  first  appointed  William  J.  Duane  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, but  the  new  secretary  refused  to  take  the  necessary 
action ;  whereupon  Jackson  dismissed  him,  and  appointed 
Roger  B.  Taney,  who  did  as  desired,  and  issued  an  order 
that  the  public  money  should  no  longer  be  placed  in  the 
bank.  This  was  called  a  removal  of  the  deposits.  In 
reality  the  Government  simply  ceased  to  deposit  its  money 
in  the  bank,  and  did  not  at  once  draw  out  all  the  money 
it  had  there.  The  Government  funds  were  thereafter 
placed  in  banks  acting  under  State  charters.  Those  that 
were  selected  for  this  purpose  were  called  "pet  banks." 
The  hope  of  having  part  of  the  public  money  for  use  en- 
couraged bankmaking,  and  the  number  of  State  banks  rap- 
idly increased. 

Jackson  was  sharply  attacked  by  the  Whigs  for  his 
assault  upon  the  bank,  and  a  resolution  of  censure  was 
„„  ,   spread  upon  the  records  of  the  Senate.    Thomas 

The  censure  and      *  * 

the  expunging  II.  Benton,  of  Missouri,  gave  notice  that  he 
resolution.  would  each  session,  until  he  succeeded  in  his 

efforts,  introduce  a  resolution  to  erase  the  resolution  from 
the  record.  After  three  years  his  famous  "  expunging  reso- 
lution "  was  adopted. 

These  years  were  full  of  business  zest  and  enterprise. 

The  whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  great  prosperity,  but 

men  were  rapidly  losing  their  heads  in  their 

Distrihutionof     gearch    of    immediate    riches>      Qne    gource    of 

surplus  revenue. 

speculation  was  the  Western  lands.  State  banks 
grew  rapidly  in  number  and  issued  their  promises  to  pay  by 
the  handful.     These  notes  were  taken  by  the  Government 


332  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

in  exchange  for  wild  lands,  and  because  of  this  and  other 
sources  of  income  the  Treasury  was  well  filled.  The  States 
were  now  eagerly  engaged  in  building  railroads,  and  full  of 
zeal  for  all  sorts  of  internal  improvement.  It  was  proposed 
to  distribute  among  the  States  the  surplus  revenue  belong- 
ing to  the  National  Government.  A  bill  for  that  purpose 
was  passed  in  183G.  The  money  was  to  be  given  out  in  four 
quarterly  installments,  beginning  January  1,  1837.  Three 
payments  were  made,  amounting  in  all  to  about  $28,000,000. 
Before  the  fourth  installment  was  due  the  Government  had 
no  more  money  to  give  away.  This  distribution  was  on  the 
face  of  the  law  only  a  loan ;  really  it  was  looked  upon  as  a 
gift.  The  money  so  distributed  has  not  been  repaid.  It 
did  the  States  little  good,  and  probably  in  most  instances 
did  harm,  encouraging  wild  plans  of  internal  improvement, 
for  many  of  which  there  was  no  real  demand. 

Before  the  end  of  Jackson's  term  he  caused  to  be  issued 

the  "  specie  circular,"  an  order  directing  that  only  gold 

and  silver  and  so-called  land  scrip  should  be 

The  speoie  received  in  payment  for  lands.     This  brought 

circular.  r   J  ° 

the  speculators  and  wild  enthusiasts  face  to 
face  with  facts,  and  soon  made  clear  to  them  that  promises 
to  pay  money  were  not  money,  and  that  making  plans  of 
cities  on  the  Western  prairies  did  not  materially  add  to  the 
wealth  of  the  nation. 

Before  passing  on  to  further  consideration  of  the  effects 
of  the  specie  circular  and  the  results  of  rash  speculation, 

let  us  consider  the  industrial  and  social  con- 
American  dition  of  the  United  States  in  this  decade  of 

literature. 

our  history.  In  every  way  the  people  seemed 
alert  and  full  of  vigor.  American  literature  was  entering 
upon  a  new  and  brilliant  career.  Washington  Irving  had 
already  achieved  fame  by  his  chaste  and  picturesque  tales 
and  sketches.  Cooper  was  writing  his  novels  of  the  sea  and 
wilderness,  and  Poe  was  beginning  to  give  out  his  weird 
stories  and  his  pure  and  delicate  verses.     Hawthorne,  born 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  333 

in  Salem,  in  the  very  midst  of  Puritan  tradition,  was  start- 
ing upon  his  career  as  the  romancer  of  mystery  and  of  Puri- 
tanic faith  and  superstition.  His  terse,  simple,  harmoni- 
ous style  proved  that  clear  and  sweet  English  prose  could 
be  written  outside  the  British  Isles.  Emerson  was  just 
beginning  his  essays  on  the  homely  practical  philosophy  of 
life,  and  Longfellow  the  finely  finished  poems  that  have 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  American  poets.  In  oratory  the 
Americans  easily  outstripped  any  English  competitors  of 
that  generation.  Webster's  speeches  were  great  and  pure 
and  simple ;  Edward  Everett  uttered  polished  periods, 
turned  and  fitted  with  delicate  care.  Clay's  fiery  eloquence 
and  Calhoun's  cold  reasoning  always  had  something  artistic 
about  them.  In  the  writing  of  history,  too,  American 
authors  were  showing  talent.  Bancroft  began  the  pub- 
lication of  his  great  work,  the  final  revision  of  which 
did  not  appear  until  forty  years  later.  Prescott  published 
in  1838  his  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  earliest  of  his 
charming  volumes  on  Spain  and  the  Spaniards  of  the  New 
World. 

The  American  inventive  spirit,  which  had  showed  itself 
in  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  and  the  steamboat,  was 
n        .  ,  ,       now  manifest   in   many  new  labor-saving  de- 

Open-mmded-  ,  . 

ness  and  vices.    One  was  the  McCormick  reaper,  another 

progress.  ^e   gteam  hammer.      Friction  matches  were 

coming  into  use.  In  1838  steamboats  began  to  make  trips 
across  the  Atlantic.  About  the  same  time  the  process  of 
smelting  iron  with  anthracite  coal  and  the  hot-air  blast 
was  put  into  successful  operation,  the  beginning  of  that 
great  industry  in  the  United  States.  This  country  offered 
a  welcome  asylum  for  men  of  energy  or  of  inventive  power, 
for  no  device  was  rejected  because  of  its  novelty.  This 
same  open-mind edness  and  eagerness  for  progress  showed 
itself  in  the  establishment  of  new  wide-awake  newspapers. 
More  important  still,  the  public-school  system  was  widened 
and  popularized. 


334:  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  Jacksonian  era  was  a  time  when  great  characteristics 

of  the  nineteenth  century  seemed  to  burst  forth  into  view. 

_  The  intensity  of  national  life  seemed  to  show 

Characteristics  J 

of  the  nine-         itself  free  from  restraint,  and  although  there 

teenth  centnry.  wag  doubtless  a  fantastic  extravagance,  in  these 
very  exaggerations  one  can  see  with  special  clearness  cer- 
tain qualities  that  mark  the  line  of  growth  along  which  the 
nation  Avas  moving.  The  development  of  the  public-school 
system  came  doubtless  from  a  feeling  of  public  duty,  from 
a  realization  of  the  essential  unity  of  the  people,  and  from 
a  comprehension  of  the  fact  that  a  democratic  government 
was  safe  only  in  the  hands  of  an  educated  people.  But 
while  the  century  has  been  marked  by  the  growth  of  knowl- 
edge and  by  the  popularizing  of  education,  it  has  been 
marked  still  more,  perhaps,  by  the  widening  and  deepening 
of  human  sympathy  and  feeling.  The  foundation  of  the 
great  missionary  societies,  five  of  which  were  established 
between  1830  and  1840,  is  an  important  evidence  of  this  de- 
velopment of  generous  feeling  for  others.  And  as  there 
grew  up  in  men's  minds  a  fuller  appreciation  of  their  rela- 
tion to  their  fellows,  they  showed  this  appreciation  in  great 
social  movements,  in  works  of  generosity  and  charity.  One 
might  expect  that  men  in  democratic  America  would  mani- 
fest more  clearly  than  the  people  of  Europe  this  sentiment 
of  humanity  and  this  appreciation  of  the  common  interests 
of  men ;  and  such  was  probably  the  case ;  but  everywhere 
in  Europe,  too,  during  the  fourth  and  fifth  decades  of  the 
century,  there  appeared  these  waves  of  social  sentiment, 
all  marking  the  great  movement  of  society,  and,  if  they 
were  extreme  or  extravagant  at  the  time,  they  are  none  the 
less  proofs  of  the  great  motive  force  of  the  century.  "  We 
are  a  little  wild  here,"  wrote  Emerson  from  Boston,  "  with 
numberless  projects  of  social  reform;  not  a  leading  man 
but  has  a  draft  of  a  new  community  in  his  waistcoat 
pocket."  The  impulse  for  temperance  reform  which  swept 
over    the    country,   and    the    abolition   movement,   which 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837.  335 

we  shall  soon  study,  were  manifestations  of  this  new  social 
conscience.  "  A  great  wave  of  humanity,  of  benevolence, 
of  desire  for  improvement,  poured  itself  among  all  who 
had  the  faculty  of  large  and  disinterested  thinking."  * 

The  democratic  spirit,  which  we  have  seen  in  the  politi- 
cal life  of  the  country,  prevailed  in  society.  The  election 
of  Jackson  simply  heralded  the  fact  that  the 
people  felt  their  power,  and  that  they  had 
reached  their  majority.  Social  distinctions  had  now  van- 
ished or  were  of  little  moment.  Success  in  life,  not  one's 
ancestry  or  supposed  position,  was  given  deference  and  re- 
spect. Little  honor  was  shown  to  assumed  superiority.  A 
feeling  of  self-confidence  prevailed,  and  a  spirit  of  boastful- 
ness  was  not  lacking ;  for  men  prided  themselves  on  the 
fact  that  the  United  States,  in  advance  of  the  world,  was 
giving  an  example  of  popular  government,  and  they  de- 
clared their  country  to  be  the  freest  and  best  on  earth. 
Spite  of  self-assertion  and  vainglory,  there  was  much  that 
was  sound  and  good  in  this  democratic  spirit ;  the  people 
rudely  made  real  the  truth  that  "worth  makes  the  man, 
and  want  of  it  the  fellow  " — the  true  motto  of  true  de- 
mocracy. Men  were  hard  at  work,  for  work  was  no  dis- 
grace in  this  new  country ;  they  eagerly  sought  after 
money,  not  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  what  it  would  bring. 
Work  was  the  common  lot  of  all  men ;  and  where  that  is 
the  case  democratic  equality  has  its  surest  foundation. f 

One  is  not  mistaken  in  attributing  this  development  of 
religious,  moral,  and  mental  freedom  and  strength,  in  part 
at  least,  to  democratic  institutions,  to  the  fact  that  in 
America  each  man  was  given  responsibilities,  and  taught 
by  the  force  of  circumstances,  by  his  duties,  by  the  very 

*  These  words  are  used  of  the  situation  in  England  in  J.  Morley, 
The  Life  of  Richard  Cobden,  p.  61.  See  also  Hinsdale,  Horace  Mann, 
p.  73. 

f  The  society  in  America  is  discussed  in  Schouler,  History,  vol.  ii, 
chap,  viii  (1809),  and  vol.  iv,  chap,  xiii  (1831). 


336  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

political  theory  of  the  commonwealth,  to  think  for  himself 

and  to  strive  for  personal  uplift.     Out  of  this  feeling  of 

personal  responsibility  and   power  have   come 

Democracy  and    ^e  successful  establishment  and  maintenance 

human  progress. 

of  the  Church  and  other  religious  institutions 
upon  a  perfectly  free  and  voluntary  system,  without  the  au- 
thority or  interference  of  the  Government ;  the  building  up 
of  the  great  free-school  system,  of  which  we  have  spoken ; 
and  the  endowment  of  higher  institutions  of  learning, 
libraries,  and  museums  by  the  State  as  well  as  by  private 
generosity.  All  of  these  result  from  the  free  and  unre- 
strained desire  of  an  intelligent  public.  We  may  well  stop 
to  consider  these  facts  while  we  are  discussing  these  pro- 
foundly interesting  times,  when  Andrew  Jackson,  "the 
man  of  the  people,"  was  President,  and  when  in  countless 
ways  energetic  men,  realizing  in  some  measure  the  heritage 
of  a  great  country  and  a  free  government,  were  pushing 
boldly  and  enthusiastically  forward  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth 
and  moral  and  intellectual  ideals. 

Until  the  end  of  Jackson's  administration  the  country 
grew  with  astounding  rapidity.  The  seacoast  towns  no 
longer  looked  like  country  villages,  but  had  put 
on  the  airs  of  populous  cities.  Emigrants  from 
Europe  came  in  increasing  numbers,  many  of  them  staying 
in  the  ports  where  they  landed,  others  moving  to  the  new 
West.  The  Western  States  and  Territories  grew  at  a  marvel- 
ous rate.  Arkansas  and  Michigan  were  admitted  as  States 
(183G  and  1837).  Ohio  increased  her  population  in  the  dec- 
ade (1830-'40)  from  about  900,000  to  1,500,000,  or  over  G2 
per  cent.  The  population  of  Illinois  increased  202  per 
cent ;  of  Michigan,  570  per  cent ;  of  Mississippi,  175  per 
cent ;  other  States  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  advanced 
almost  as  rapidly,  and  even  the  Territories  were  filling 
with  sturdy  settlers.  Chicago  in  1830  was  but  a  rude 
frontier  post,  a  mere  cluster  of  houses  ;  before  1840  it  was 
a  prosperous  town,  with  lines  of  steamers  connecting   it 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JACKSON— 1829-1837. 


33' 


with  the  East,  and  was  already  the  center  of  the  newest 
West. 

There  seem  to  have  been  less  than  thirty  miles  of  rail- 
road in  the  country  in  1830 ;  in  1840  there  were  not  far  from 
three  thousand.  It  is  no  wonder  that  men  were 
iW^ements.  incluced  to  build  air  castles,  or  that  they  ex- 
pected to  see  the  Western  wilderness  conquered 
in  a  day.  Some  .of  the  States  planned  great  railroad  and 
canal  systems,  and,  wild  with  schemes  of  internal  improve- 
ment, plunged  rashly  into  debt.     Michigan,  for  example,  en- 


Map  showing  Distribution  of  Population  in  1840. 

tered  upon  the  task  of  building  three  railroads  across  the 
State,  voted  sums  for  the  survey  of  canals,  and  authorized 
the  Governor  to  borrow  five  million  dollars  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  such  undertakings.  Individuals  as  well  as  States 
discounted  the  future,  expecting  almost  immediate  wealth 
as  a  result  of  investments. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  purchase  of  wild  lands 
from  the  Government  was  an  especially  attractive  form 
of  speculation.  Men  seem  actually  to  have  thought  that 
lands  purchased  at  $1.25  an  acre  would  in  a  few  days  or 


338  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

months  be  worth  much  more  on  the  market,  although  the 

Government  had  a  great  deal  more  land  to  sell  at  the  old 

figure.    Indeed,  at  times  these  speculations  were 

Speculation  in     profits    for  the  nation  was  buoyed  up  with 

public  lands.         *  ...  . 

hope  and  with  visions  of  unbounded  prosperity. 
Sales  of  Government  lands  rose  from  about  two  and  a  half 
million  dollars  in  1832  to  over  twenty-four  million  dollars  in 
1836.  Everywhere  in  the  last  years  of  Jackson's  term 
appeared  enthusiasm  in  business  enterprise  and  a  tendency 
to  bold  speculation.  Much  of  this  was  healthy  vigor,  for 
the  country  was  growing,  and  its  growth  was  due  to  zealous 
work.  But  thrift  had  been  displaced  by  greed  for  immedi- 
ate riches,  and  the  result  was  sure  to  be  disappointment,  if' 
not  disaster.  Few  saw,  when  Jackson  left  office  in  1837, 
that  the  storm  was  ready  to  break. 

For  the  election  of  1836  the  Democrats  nominated  Martin 
Van  Buren  for  President,  and  Kichard  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tucky, for  Vice-President.  The  Whigs  nomi- 
of  I836?tl0n  na^e^  General  William  Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio, 
the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  for  the  presidency,  and 
Francis  Granger,  of  New  York,  for  the  vice-presidency.* 
Other  candidates  were  presented  by  State  legislatures,  and 
it  was  thought  the  result  might  be  to  throw  the  election 
into  the  House  of  Eepresentatives.  The  issues  of  the  cam- 
paign were  not  very  distinct,  and  yet  the  two  leading  candi- 
dates showed  a  clear  difference  of  opinion  on  matters  that 
were  agitating  the  public  mind.  Harrison  declared  in  favor 
of  the  distribution  of  the  surplus  revenue  among  the  States, 
a  like  distribution  of  the  proceeds  from  sale  of  public  lands, 
the  appropriation  of  money  for  river  and  harbor  improve- 
ment, and  the  granting  of  another  bank  charter.  Van 
Buren  opposed  all  these  measures.  The  Democrats  were 
successful  in  the  election. 


*  The  nomination  of  Harrison  and  Granger  was  not  made  by  a 
formal  national  convention. 


ADMINISTRATION    OF    VAN   BURP1N— 1837-1841.      339 

References. 
Short  accounts:  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  2-93;  Roose- 
velt, Benton,  pp.  G8-156;  Charming,  United  States  of  America,  pp. 
208-223;  Moore,  The  American  Congress,  pp.  240-294;  Lodge, 
Daniel  Webster,  Chapter  VII;  Von  Hoist,  John  C.  Calhoun,  pp.  63- 
183;  McLaughlin,  Lewis  Cass,  Chapter  V.  Longer  accounts:  Schurz, 
Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  pp.  311-383,  Volume  II,  pp.  1-112;  Schouler, 
History,  Volume  III,  pp.  451-529,  Volume  IV,  pp.  1-273. 

ADMINISTRATION   OF  MARTIN  VAN  BUREN-1837-1841. 

Martin  Van  Buren  had  been  somewhat  prominent  in 
political  life  for  twenty  years  before  his  accession  to  the 
presidency.  He  had  been  senator  from  New  York,  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  *  He  was  a  politician 
of  great  adroitness,  and  so  clever  in  political  management 
that  he  had  won  the  title  of  the  "  Little  Magician."  He 
was  a  polished,  polite,  good-natured  man,  never  giving  way 
to  excitement  or  to  appearance  of  anger.  His  cool  suavity 
was  attributed  by  his  enemies  to  a  designing  disposition, 
his  politeness  to  a  capacity  for  deceit.  His  life  does  not 
show,  however,  that  he  was  devoid  of  either  ability  or  prin- 
ciple. He  performed  his  presidential  duties  well.  His  term 
was  full  of  trouble  and  anxiety,  but  he  showed  good  judg- 
ment and  discretion  in  meeting  the  trying  problems  that 
confronted  him. 

He  entered  upon  the  office  with  an  inaugural  address, 

congratulating   the   people  on    "an   aggregate  of   human 

prosperity  not  elsewhere  to  be  found ;  on  pos- 

His  inaugural.  .  ,  ... 

sessmg  a  popular  government,  wanting  m  no 
element  of  endurance  or  strength."  Such  statements  were 
characteristic  of  the  times.  The  people  were  elated,  and 
wont  to  praise  their  own  lot.  But  now  a  period  of  distress 
and  want  was  close  upon  them. 

Some  slight  indications  had  already  been  given  that  the 
country  was  on  the  eve  of  business  disaster.     It  was  awak- 


340  niSTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ening  with  a  shock  from  the  prolonged  fit  of  intoxication 
over  American  success  and  growth.     In  the  winter  before 

the  inauguration  a  large  gathering  was  held  in 
The  panic  of       New  York  in  response  to  a  call  headed  "  Bread, 

meat,  rent,  fuel !  Their  prices  must  come 
down ! "  The  meeting  was  followed  by  a  riot.  Abroad, 
too,  there  was  business  depression.  April  10,  1837,  the 
London  Times  said  that  great  distress  and  pressure  had 
been  produced  in  England  in  every  branch  of  industry,  and 
that  the  calamity  had  never  been  exceeded.  Englishmen 
that  had  invested  money  in  this  country  now  began  to  de- 
mand payment  on  their  stocks,  bonds,  and  notes.  With 
what  were  Americans  to  pay  ?  With  the  paper  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  banks  scattered  here  and  there  throughout  the 
country — banks  with  little  or  no  gold  and  silver  in  their 
vaults,  and  without  capital  that  could  be  turned  into  good 
money  ?  Of  course,  the  Englishmen  wanted  good  money. 
Jackson's  specie  circular,  too,  did  much  to  topple  over  the 
castles  in  the  air  which  the  people  had  been  building.  It 
now  became  clear  enough  that  the  paper  of  worthless  banks 
was  not  money ;  and  it  soon  appeared  that  nearly  everything 
had  acquired  an  unreal  price.  Speculation  came  sharply  to 
a  standstill.  Commercial  failures  began  in  April.  One 
business  house  after  another  failed.  All  sorts  of  goods 
fell  in  price.  Workmen  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
and  there  was  much  suffering  among  the  poor.  Men  who 
had  thought  themselves  rich,  found  that  their  wealth  was 
in  Western  lands  for  which  there  was  no  market,  or  in 
promises  to  pay  on  which  they  could  not  realize,  or  in 
shares  of  some  gigantic  project  which  was  now  no  more. 
The  great  fabric,  reared  on  credit  and  hope,  fell,  and  the 
whole  country  was  in  consternation.  Such  was  the  dismal 
outcome  of  the  extravagance  and  wild  speculation  of  a  decade. 
The  lesson  was  pretty  sharply  taught,  that  not  the  planning 
of  new  cities  where  none  were  needed,  or  the  digging  of 
canals  where  the  country  was  not  ready  for  them,  or  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  VAN  BUREN— 1837-1841.       341 

speculation  in  lands  or  stocks,  created  real  wealth  or  stored 
up  help  for  the  day  of  distress. 

Unfortunately,  all  the  lessons  of  this  panic  were  not 
gathered  by  the  people.  The  Government  was  charged 
H  l  f  th  w*^  a  lar£e  Part  °^  ^ne  trouble.  Doubtless 
Government  Jackson's  somewhat  rude  handling  of  the  na- 
demanded.  tional  bank   and   financial   affairs  had   aggra- 

vated matters,  but  the  root  of  the  evil  was  far  deeper :  it 
sprang  from  reckless  extravagance.  There  was  a  wide  de- 
mand now  for  the  Government  to  lift  the  people  out  of 
their  difficulties,  but  the  Government  was  itself  in  perplex- 
ing straits.  Beginning  in  January  to  distribute  money 
among  the  States,  before  the  end  of  the  year  it  was  not 
only  unable  to  pay  the  last  of  the  four  quarterly  install- 
ments, but  was  hardly  able  to  meet  its  own  running  ex- 
penses. Van  Buren  refused  to  adopt  or  recommend  any 
extraordinary  plans  for  bringing  about  good  times.  He 
saw  that  only  time  and  industry  could  bring  back  a  condi- 
tion of  hope  and  faith,  which  were  the  basis  of  growth  and 
prosperity.  Moreover,  he  did  not  believe  it  was  the  duty 
of  government — especially  the  United  States  Government — 
to  take  a  paternal  care  over  interests  that  were  best  left  to 
individuals.  He  was  in  consequence  denounced  as  hard- 
hearted and  cruel  by  Whig  orators  and  by  many  of  the 
people. 

He  recommended  (special  session,  September,  1837)  that 

thereafter  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  do 

its  own  financial  business ;  that  it  should  not 

?reea!ndependent  kecP  its  funds  in  State  banks,  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  establish  another  national  bank,  but  that 
the  money  should  be  collected  and  kept  by  the  Govern- 
ment itself.  This  meant  simply  that  whatever  money  was 
collected  should  be  put  by  the  Government  in  its  own 
"  strong  box."  The  plan — called  the  "  Divorce  Bill,"  be- 
cause it  divorced  the  Government  from  the  banks — was 
bitterly  attacked,  and  was  not  indeed  adopted  until  1840. 


342 


HISTORY    OK   TIIK    A1MKIM0AN    NATION. 


The 
abolitionists 


In  fche  uext  administration  (1841)  this  bill  was  repealed, 
but  in  L846  a  like  measure  was  passed,  and  since  that  day 
lias  remained  in  force  almost  unchanged. 

The  country  suffered  severely  from  the  panic  during  a 
good  portion  of  Van  Buren's  term;  but  there  were  other 
questions  that  occasionally  occupied  public  in- 
terest, and  one  of  these  was  of  even  more  im- 
portance than  money  and  banking.  Since  the 
Missouri  compromise  the  slavery  question  had  not  been 
allowed  to  disappear  entirely  from  public  attention.     Until 

about  1830,  however,  there  was 
little  discussion,  and  little  oc- 
casion for  excitement.  In  1829 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and 
Benjamin  Lundy  began  to 
print,  at  Baltimore,  The  Gen- 
ius  of  Universal  Emancipation. 
Two  years  later  Garrison 
founded  The  Liberator,  at  Bos- 
ton, and  in  18132  the  New  Eng- 
land Antislavery  Society  was 
founded.  The  society  advo- 
cated the  abolition  of  slavery  at 
once,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
sinful  and  demoralizing.  Men 
were  called  to  "immediate  re- 
pentance." Somewhat  later  t  he 
American  Antislavery  Society  was  organized.  It  grew  but 
slowly  at  first,  and  met  with  the  angry  opposition  of  many 
who  saw  that  the  South  would  not  consent  to  immediate 
net  ion,  and  that  <  he  preaohing  of  such  dootrine  would  neces- 
sarily bring  sectional  ill  feeling  and  disturbance. 

During  the   next   few  years   many  abolitionists*  were 

*  It  should  be  noticed  that  abolitionism  was  essentially  different 
from  other  earlier  movement*  against  shivery,  inasmuch  as  its  main 
tenet  was  the  sinfulness  of  slavery,  which  tainted  the  slaveholder  and 


•1r~J^ry<£-  4~~ri 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   VAN  BUREN— 1837-1841.      343 

attacked  by  Xorthern  mobs,  in  large  part  made  up  doubt- 
less of  the  more  ignorant  and  excitable  people,  but  some 
of  them  containing   men  who  ought  to  have 
They  suffer        known  that,  in  a  free  country,  persecution  and 

violence.  '  • 

violence  are  the  poorest  of  arguments,  and  likely 
to  have  quite  an  opposite  effect  from  that  intended.  In 
1833  Prudence  Crandall  opened  her  school  in  Canterbury, 
Conn.,  to  negro  girls.  She  was  cast  into  jail,  and  her  school 
building  destroyed.  Like  outrages  occurred  elsewhere.  In 
1837  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  was  shot  in  Alton,  111.  His  offense 
was  the  publication  of  an  antislavery  newspaper.  Even  in 
Boston  Garrison  was  mobbed,  and  led  through  the  street 
with  a  rope  about  his  neck. 

The  feeling  at  the  South  against  the  abolitionists  was 
intense.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  slave  owners  would  be 
Th  So  th  incensed   against    an    organization   which   de- 

demands  their  clared  slaveholding  to  be  a  sin,  calling  for  in- 
suppression.  stant  repentance.  Men  who  had  been  sur- 
rounded by  the  system  all  their  lives  might  see  some  of  its 
bad  effects,  but  were  not  willing  to  be  denounced  as  crimi- 
nals. Some  of  them  now  declared  that  abolition  news- 
papers and  pamphlets  should  be  shut  out  from  the  mails, 
and  the  Governor  of  Alabama  went  so  far  as  to  demand 
that  Xew  York  should  turn  over  to  his  State  for  punish- 
ment the  publisher  of  the  Emancipator,  an  antislavery 
paper,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  disseminated  seditious 
articles  (1835).*  The  Southern  papers  called  for  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Xorthern  States.     "  Words,  words,  words 

the  whole  nation.  It  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  gradual  emanci- 
pation ;  its  purpose  was  to  arouse  the  conscience  of  the  nation  to  imme- 
diate repentance. 

*  The  Constitution  provides  for  the  return  of  fugitives  from  justice 
to  the  State  whence  they  have  fled  ;  but  it  makes  no  provision  for  the 
authorities  of  one  State  to  turn  over  to  another  State  a  person  charged 
with  a  crime  in  such  second  State  when  he  did  not  actually  flee 
from  it. 

23 


344  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

are  all  we  are  to  have,"  said  one.  "  Up  to  the  mark  the 
North  must  come  if  it  would  restore  tranquillity  and  pre- 
serve the  Union,"  said  another.  The  South  was  moving  on 
dangerous  gr.ound.  There  was  little  sympathy  with  the 
abolitionists  at  the  North,  but  the  excessive  demands  of 
the  South  were  sure  to  bring  about  a  reaction,  in  part  at 
least.  An  occasional  mob  might  attack  "  a  fanatic,"  but 
there  was  little  chance  that  the  Northern  people  would  turn 
over  to  Alabama  a  Northern  man  for  punishment  because 
he  had  written  or  said  words  distasteful  to  the  South, 
or  that  they  would  suppress  by  law  free  speech  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery. 

Thus  at  the  beginning  of  Van  Buren's  term  the  slavery 
question  had  taken  on  a  new  and  dangerous  aspect.  At 
the  North  the  open  abolitionists  were  few,  but 
question  in  a  seemed  to  be  slowly  increasing.  At  the  South 
new  phase.  there  was  deep  resentment.  Sharp  debates  had 
occurred  in- Congress.  The  South  could  look  with  no  pa- 
tience on  a  movement  whose  promoters  denounced  slave- 
holding  as  a  cardinal  sin,  and  who  refused  to  consider  any 
plans  or  methods  but  immediate  and  unconditional  abo- 
lition. Now  began  that  controversy  which  ended  in  the 
civil  war.     Sectional  feeling  grew  constantly  more  bitter. 

A  favorite  idea  of  some  Northern  opponents  of  slavery, 
even  when  not  abolitionists,  was  to  bring  about  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Adams  and  Petitions  to  this  end  came  to  Congress  in  in- 
creasing numbers.  A  rule  was  proposed  in  the 
House  providing  that  such  petitions  should  not  be  printed 
or  referred  to  a  committee,  but  laid  upon  the  table  (1836). 
John  Quincy  Adams  was  then  a  member  of  the  House,  and 
when  this  rule  was  presented,  he  rose  and  said  :  "  I  hold  the 
resolution  to  be  a  direct  violation  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  the  rules  of  this  House,  and  the  rights 
of  my  constituents."  The  rule  was  adopted  by  a  large 
majority ;  but  from  that  time  on  Adams  devoted  himself 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  VAN  BUREN— 1837-1841.      345 

to  the  presentation  of  antislavery  petitions  and  to  an  at- 
tempt to  bring  about  an  abandonment  of  the  so-called 
"  gag  policy."  He  was  not  successful,  however,  until  after 
eight  years  of  effort.  This  long  contest  of  Adams  for  the 
right  of  petition  is  full  of  striking  and  dramatic  scenes. 
The  proslavery  men  made  a  serious  blunder  when  they 
tried  to  prevent  debate  on  this  great  question.  Not  only 
did  they  array  against  them  the  keenest  debater  in  the 
House,  but  the  effort  to  stifle  discussion  awoke  the  interest 
of  the  nation,  and  thousands  of  men  signed  petitions  or 
were  won  over  to  antislavery  sentiment  who  otherwise 
would  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  movement.  The 
first  eighteen  months  of  the  gag  policy  increased  the  num- 
ber of  antislavery  petitions  from  twenty-three  to  three 
hundred  thousand.  The  abolitionists  henceforth  might 
be  denounced,  but  they  were  safe  from  personal  violence. 

Among  other  difficulties  of  these  days  was  war  with  the 
Southern  Indians.  For  some  time  the  National  Govern- 
ment had  been  striving  to  remove  all  the  In- 
The  second  dians  to  new  homes  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
The  Seminoles  of  Florida  were  a  great  object 
of  hatred  to  the  people  of  Georgia,  because  they  offered  an 
asylum  to  runaway  slaves  and  were  savage  and  intractable 
neighbors.  Finally,  under  the  leadership  of  their  famous 
chief,  Osceola,  the  Indians  began  war.  The  contest  lasted 
for  seven  years  (1835-'42),  and  was  full  of  atrocities  and 
horrors.  The  troops  that  were  sent  into  the  wilds  of 
Florida  suffered  from  fevers  and  exposure  almost  as  much 
as  from  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  Many  lives 
were  lost  and  millions  of  money  expended  to  secure  at  last 
this  old  Spanish  dominion  that  bore  the  peaceful  name  of 
the  Land  of  Easter. 

In  the  election  of  1840  there  were  three  tickets  in  the 
field.  The  Democrats  nominated  Van  Buren  again.  They 
stood  pretty  squarely  on  the  platform  of  1836,  favoring  the 
rights  of  the  States  and  opposing  the  assumption  of  power 


346  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

by  the  National  Government.    They  were  against  a  national 

bank,  and  in  favor  of  the  independent  treasury.      Some  of 

the  States  were  badly  in  debt  because  of  the 

Democratic  J 

platform  in         extravagances  of  the  last  ten  years  ;  some  had 
1840.  repudiated  their  debts,  and  there  was  now  a 

demand  in  some  quarters  that  the  United  States  assume 
and  pay  State  obligations.  This  the  Democrats  opposed.* 
The  natural  Whig  candidate  was  Clay,  the  real  leader 
of  the  party.  He  had  been  fighting  valiantly  against  Jack- 
son and  his  successor  for  years,  and  represented 
6  g8,  the  meaning  and  motive  of  the  Whigs  better 
than  any  other  man.  But  by  means  of  a  trick  of  the  politi- 
cal managers  in  the  convention,  Clay  was  passed  by  and 
General  Harrison  put  in  nomination.  The  Whig  party  was 
in  these  years  essentially  a  party  of  opposition ;  it  was 
therefore  made  up  of  different  elements,  some  of  which  had 
no  positive  principle  in  agreement  with  the  main  body  of 
the  party.  One  of  these  elements  was  a  State-rights  ele- 
ment, that  had  found  its  way  into  opposition  because  of 
dislike  of  Jackson's  personal  rule  and  what  was  considered 
his  high-handed  methods.  In  mere  attacks,  such  men 
could  work  side  by  side  with  the  Whigs,  and  might  con- 
sider themselves  brothers  in  the  same  party  with  Clay 
and  Webster  ;  but  in  reality  almost  the  only  point  in  com- 
mon was  opposition  to  Jackson  and  his  disciples.  To  this 
element  belonged  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia.  He  was  a 
thorough  State-rights  man ;  he  had  early  declared  that 
Congress  could  not  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and 
in  1833  had  cast  in  the  Senate  the  only  vote  against  the 
bill   providing  for  the   maintenance  of  national  law  and 

*  The  Democrats  at  this  time  were  often  called  the  "  Loco-focos," 
but  the  name  is  more  strictly  applicable  to  a  faction  of  the  party.  For 
the  origin  of  the  name  and  the  meaning  of  the  "  loco-foco  "  movement, 
see  Von  Hoist,  Constitutional  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  396 ;  Shepard,  Martin 
Van  Buren,  p.  293 ;  Lalor,  Cyclopedia,  vol.  ii,  p.  781 ;  see  also  the 
dictionary  under  Locofoco. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  VAN  BUREN— 1837-1841.      347 

supremacy.  He  is  said  to  have  wept  when  Clay  was  not 
nominated,  and  "  Tyler's  tears "  were  asserted  to  be  the 
reason  for  his  own  nomination  to  the  vice-presidency — a 
nomination  due  in  part  doubtless  to  a  desire  to  hold  in  the 
party  the  element  which  he  represented.*  The  Whigs  put 
forth  no  declaration  of  principles. 

A  third  party  was  now  before  the  people.  It  was  called 
the  "  Liberty  party,"  and  was  composed  of  those  who  were 
strongly  opposed  to  slavery,  but  willing  to  take 
The  Liberty  political  means  of  getting  rid  of  the  evil.  Such 
means  Garrison  and  his  school  of  abolitionists 
objected  to.  They  considered  their  movement  a  moral 
reform,  not  to  be  sullied  by  politics.  Indeed,  the  orthodox 
abolitionists  soon  refused  to  cast  a  ballot  of  any  kind,  be- 
cause the  Constitution  itself  was  tainted  with  immorality, 
inasmuch  as  it  recognized  slavery,  and  because  a  union  with 
slaveholders  was  wrong.  The  Constitution  they  declared  to 
be,  in  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  prophet,  "  a  covenant  with 
death  and  an  agreement  with  hell."  f  The  nominees  of 
the  Liberty  party  were  James  G.  Birney  and  Thomas  Earle. 

The  election  was  one  of  great  excitement.  The  people, 
as  never  before,  entered  with  unbounded  enthusiasm  into 
the  contest.  There  was  little  calm  discussion  of  principles. 
In  the  race  for  popular  favor  the  Democrats  were  left  far 
in  the  background  by  the  Whigs,  who  claimed  to  be  the 
people's  party  and  made  every  appeal  to  popular  sympathy. 
Monster  meetings,  long  processions,  campaign  songs,  took 
the  place  of  argument.  "  Every  breeze  says  change,"  said 
Webster.  "  The  time  for  discussion  has  passed,"  exclaimed 
Clay.     "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too  "  was  the  watchword  of 

*  Thurlow  Weed,  a  prominent  Whig  politician,  declared  that  Tyler 
was  elected  "  because  we  could  get  nobody  else  to  accept." 

f  "  And  your  covenant  with  death  shall  be  disannulled,  and  your 
agreement  with  hell  shall  not  stand ;  when  the  overflowing  scourge 
shall  pass  through,  then  ye  shall  be  trodden  down  by  it."  (Isaiah 
xxviii,  18.) 


348  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  jubilant  party,  which  had  never  yet  tasted  success,  but 
expected  now  to  be  triumphant.  The  most  was  made  of 
the  fact  that  Harrison  was  a  simple  Westerner.  Throughout 
the  campaign  live  coons  and  barrels  of  cider  were  always  in 
evidence  ;  log  cabins  were  reared  as  emblems  in  town  and 
city,  or  were  drawn  about  on  carts  in  long  processions  to 
mass  meetings,  which  the  newspapers  said  contained  "  acres 
of  men."  Enthusiasm  for  Harrison,  strongly  aided  by  the 
hard  times,  for  which  the  Democrats  had  to  bear  the  blame, 
easily  carried  the  day  for  the  Whigs.*  They  were  wild 
with  elation  and  overcome  with  joy.  Nineteen  States  out  of 
twenty-six  cast  their  electoral  votes  for  Harrison  and  Tyler. 

References. 
Short  accounts :  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapters  IV  and 
V;  Roosevelt,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Chapters  VIII-X;  Schurz,  Henry 
Clay,  Volume  II,  pp.  113-198;  Shepard,  Martin  Van  Buren,  pp. 
242-300;  Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams,  pp.  240-301.  Longer  ac- 
count :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  274-359. 

ADMINISTRATION    OF   WILLIAM    HENRY  HARRISON  AND 
JOHN  TYLER— 1841-1845. 

Harrison  was  an  honest,  straightforward,  simple  man,  of 

moderate  ability.     He  was  not  a  great  statesman,  nor  did 

he  show  himself  to  be  a  leader  of   men,  but 

William  Henry    throughout  life  he  quietly  and  conscientiously 

Harrison.  &  ,        ,,.,,,■,        *,       ■,  i  • 

performed  the  duties  that  devolved  upon  him. 
He  won  some  honor  in  the  War  of  1812,  when  the  nation 
craved  national  heroes.     He  was  Governor  of  Indiana  Ter- 


*  Interesting  accounts  of  this  campaign  of  sound  and  excitement  will 
be  found  in  Schouler,  History,  vol.  iv,  pp.  328-340,  especially  pp.  335-340 ; 
Shepard,  Van  Buren,  pp.  327-338 ;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  vol.  ii,  pp. 
170-197 ;  Von  Hoist,  Constitutional  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  390-405.  One 
of  the  pieces  of  doggerel  verse  used  in  the  campaign  was  only  too  de- 
scriptive— 

"  National  Republicans  in  Tippecanoe, 
And  Democratic  Republicans  in  Tyler,  too.'" 

This  was  a  strange  combination  of  men  and  principles. 


ADMINISTRlTION  OF  TYLER— 1841-1845.  349 

ritory  for  twelve  years,  a  Representative  in  Congress,  and 
also  a  Senator.  For  some  years  before  his  election  he  had 
been  living  in  a  quiet,  unassuming  way  at  his  home  in  Ohio. 
The  new  President  was  inaugurated  with  unwonted  dis- 
play. The  Whigs  were  jubilant,  but  were  soon  to  be  disap- 
m   ,    .    ,        pointed.     Harrison  announced  his  Cabinet  al- 

The  beginning      x 

of  the  most  immediately.     Daniel  Webster  was  made 

administration.  Secretary  of  State.  Clay  did  not  desire  to 
enter  the  Cabinet,  though  he  could  have  had  the  place 
given  to  Webster.  It  was  better  so  ;  Clay  was  in  no  mood 
to  be  second  even  to  the  President.  The  spoils  system  had 
been  very  objectionable  to  many  Wliigs  when  out  of  power, 
but  now  the  tide  of  office  seekers  set  in,  and  there  was  a 
scramble  for  office  quite  as  vigorous  as  any  that  had  occurred 
before.  This  practice,  now  indorsed  by  both  parties,  fastened 
and  confirmed  the  system  in  national  politics.* 

Harrison  was  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  and  was  not  ro- 
bust in  body.     The  campaign  had  fatigued  him,  and  the 
duties    of    his    new   position   sorely   tried   his 
Death  of  the       strength.    He  was  beset  by  office  seekers.    Just 

President.  °  J 

one  month  after  his  inauguration  he  died. 
For  the  first  time  in  our  history  death  entered  the  White 
House.  The  people  were  shocked  at  such  an  end  of  their 
hopes.  Harrison  was  deservedly  popular,  and  the  whole 
nation  sincerely  mourned  his  loss. 

Tyler  at  once  assumed  the  duties  and  the  title  of  Presi- 
dent.    The  Whigs  who  had  elected  him  were  somewhat 

anxious,  but  for  a  time  tried  to  preserve  a  bold 

pryl7deTmes    front-    Tyler's  whole  career  could  give  them  no 

assurance  that  he  would  follow  what  they  con- 
sidered the  Whig  programme.  At  first  things  went  smoothly. 
He  retained  Harrison's  Cabinet,  and  issued  an  address  to 

*  "  We  have  nothing  here  in  politics,"  wrote  Horace  Greeley,  who  had 
daring  the  campaign  edited  the  Log  Cabin  newspaper,  "  but  large  and 
numerous  swarms  of  office-hunting  locusts,  sweeping  on  to  Washington 
daily."     See  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  vol.  ii,  p.  192. 


350  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  people,  in  which  he  said  nothing  that  was  particularly 
new  or  that  gave  notice  of  Democratic  leanings.  Difficul- 
ties soon  arose,  however.  Clay  felt  himself  the  leader  of 
the  party,  and,  by  nature  imperious  and  qualified  for  leader- 
ship, he  could  not  brook  the  pretensions  of  the  man  whose 
position  had  been  secured  by  sheer  accident.  Tyler,  in 
turn,  Avas  headstrong  and  ambitious,  and  seems  to  have  be- 
gun early  to  nurse  hopes  of  a  re-election.  However  that 
may  be,  his  whole  history  showed  that,  unless  he  renounced 
his  past,  he  could  not  agree  with  the  Whigs  on  affirmative 
measures,  however  well  he  might  have  got  along  with  them 
when  both  were  in  opposition. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recount  here  the  different  steps  by 
which  Tyler  became  estranged  from  the  party  that  elected 
him.  Twice  was  a  bank  bill  passed  by  Con- 
Whigs  gress  and  vetoed  by  the  President.  His  cabi- 
estranged.  ne-^  ^^  ^e  exception  of  Webster,  resigned. 
Webster  remained  in  office  in  order  that  he  might  settle 
difficulties  that  then  existed  between  England  and  America. 
When  he  had  brought  these  to  a  satisfactory  settlement,  he, 
too,  gave  up  his  office.  A  tariff  law  was  passed  (1842)  and 
signed  by  the  President,  but  this  was  accomplished  only 
after  a  long  struggle,  in  the  course  of  which  two  different 
tariff  measures  were  vetoed.  Before  the  middle  of  his  term 
Tyler  was  without  strong  support  in  either  party,  but  was 
upheld  by  a  few  men  who  were  sneered  at  as  "the  cor- 
poral's guard."  We  need  not  consider  who  was  right  in 
this  political  controversy.  The  Whigs  were  deprived  of  much 
that  they  considered  the  legitimate  fruit  of  their  victory.* 

The  difficulties  with  England  alluded  to  above  were  for 
a  while  quite  serious.  In  Van  Buren's  administration  an  in- 
cident occurred  commonly  called  "  the  Caroline  affair." 
There  was  at  that  time  an  insurrection  in  Canada,  and  some 

*  "  As  an  instance  of  the  President's  unpopularity,  an  influenza 
which  about  this  time  broke  out  acquired  the  name  of  the  '  Tyler 
grippe.'  "     (Schouler,  iv,  p.  433.) 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  TYLER— 1841-1845.  351 

of  the  people  of  the  United  States  sympathized  with  the 
rebels.     A  vessel,  the  Caroline,  seems  to  have  been  used  to 

transport  men  and  supplies  from  New  York 
The  Caroline       acr0ss  the  Niagara  River.     An  expedition  from 

Canada  crossed  to  the  American  side,  seized  the 
vessel,  set  her  on  fire  and  let  her  drift  over  the  falls.  An 
American  citizen  was  killed  in  the  affair.  Some  years  after 
this  a  Canadian  named  McLeod  was  arrested  in  New  York 
and  charged  with  the  murder  of  the  American.    The  English 

Government  demanded  the  release  of  this  man, 

on  the  ground  that  the  whole  matter  was  a 
public  affair,  for  which  England  herself,  and  not  a  private 
citizen,  was  responsible.  The  New  York  authorities  refused 
to  surrender  their  prisoner  to  the  National  Government,  and 
the  situation  was  serious  and  critical.  Fortunately  he  was 
acquitted  upon  trial,  and  so  England  had  on  this  score  no 
further  ground  of  complaint. 

Some  time  before  these  occurrences  serious  disputes  had 
arisen  concerning  the  northeastern  boundary.     The  terms 

of  the  treaty  that  was  signed  at  the  close  of  the 

The  northeast-  Revoiuti0n  were  not  explicit.  Maine  and  Can- 
em  boundary.  * 

ada  both  laid  claim  to  a  large  territory,  and 

each  insisted  that  under  the  treaty  she  was  the  rightful 
owner.  There  was  danger  of  war.  Maine  ordered  troops 
into  the  disputed  territory  and  held  it,  and  this  armed  pos- 
session, known  as  the  "  Aroostook  war,"  is  said  to  have  cost 
the  State  a  million  dollars  (1839).  War  was  prevented, 
however,  and  negotiations  fo#  settlement  were  undertaken. 
In  1842  Lord  Ashburton  came  to  America  authorized  to 
treat,  and  he  and  Webster  agreed  on  a  treaty  which  com- 
promised this  dispute,  and  set  at  rest  all  controversies  con- 
cerning the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States  even 
as  far  west  as  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  It  also  provided  for 
the  extradition  of  certain  classes  of  criminals,  and  for  keep- 
ing armed  errtisers  of  both  nations  employed  in  checking 
the  slave  trade. 


352  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Two  outbreaks  of  a  somewhat  serious  nature  occurred 
within  the  States  of  the  Union  during  Tyler's  administra- 
tion.    One  was  the  so-called  Dorr  Rebellion,  in 
The  Dorr  Rhode  Island.     It  was  the  result  of  an  effort 

Eebellioiii 

to  extend  the  suffrage  and  correct  the  faults 
of  the  existing  constitutional  system,  which  seemed  to  many 
people  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  the  State.  Rhode  Island 
still  retained  as  a  fundamental  law  the  old  charter  of  Charles 
II,  a  document  that  had  been  admirably  suited  to  a  simple 
agricultural  community,  but  was  not  so  well  adapted  to  new 
and  changed  conditions  of  life.  Some  modification  had 
been  made  years  before,  widening  the  suffrage  somewhat, 
but  there  was  still  a  large  property  qualification.  Moreover, 
the  basis  of  representation  was  entirely  out  of  date.  Disre- 
garding legal  forms  and  methods,  the  "suffrage  party," 
under  the  lead  of  Thomas  W.  Dorr,  endeavored  to  establish 
a  new  Constitution.  Under  this  instrument  Dorr  was  elected 
Governor.  The  legal  authorities  refused  to  recognize  the 
Constitution  or  the  new  officers.  Trouble  ensued.  Troops 
were  collected  on  both  sides.  The  State  was  on  the  verge 
of  civil  war.  Dorr  was  arrested  and  imprisoned,  but  on  the 
other  hand  a  new  Constitution  was  adopted  with  more  lib- 
eral and  reasonable  provisions.  Although  the  Dorrites  won 
their  point,  the  constitutional  party  preserved  the  principle 
that  a  constitution  must  be  altered  by  legal  methods,  by  ob- 
serving the  forms  and  restrictions  laid  down  in  the  Consti- 
tution, not  by  assuming  a  popular  demand  for  change. 

The  other  outbreak,  "  the  patroon  war  "  or  the  "  anti- 
rent  trouble,"  occurred  in  New  York.     Descendants  of  the 

old  Dutch  patroons  still  held  large  estates,  and, 
The  patroon        ag  p0pUiati0n  increased,  their  exactions  from 

their  tenants  were  irritating  and  irksome  in  the 
extreme,  recalling  rather  the  dues  of  the  old  feudal  system 
than  reasonable  rents.  Attempts  to  collect  back  rent  and 
to  enforce  the  legal  rights  of  the  landlords,  especially  in  the 
great  manor  of  Rensselaer wyck,  caused  disturbances  which 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  TYLER— 1841-1845.  353 

lasted  for  about  ten  years  (from  1839  to  1849),  during 
which  time  little  rent  was  collected  and  the  authorities  of 
the  State  were  often  openly  resisted.  The  matter  was  finally 
adjusted  by  reasonable  compromise. 

A  new  invention  was  now  presented  to  a  wondering 
world.  In  1837  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  took  out  a  patent  for 
sending  messages  by  electricity.  Not  till  1843 
The  electric  ^  j^  succee(j  jn  getting  from  Congress  an  ap- 
propriation that  enabled  him  to  make  a  practi- 
cal and  convincing  test.  The  next  year  a  line  was  run 
from  Baltimore  to  Washington — forty  miles.  "  What  hath 
God  wrought  ?  "  was  the  first  message  sent  over  the  wire. 
The  invention  made  great  changes  in  methods  of  conduct- 
ing all  sorts  of  business,  The  newspaper  could  now  contain 
the  intelligence  of  yesterday.  As  the  invention  came  into 
use  everywhere  the  same  news  could  be  read  on  the  same 
day  everywhere  in  the  land.  Space  no  longer  need  divide 
men  into  warring  factions,  when  they  could  think  the  same 
thoughts  and  feel  the  same  emotions  at  the  same  time. 
Politically  as  well  as  socially,  the  telegraph,  like  the  rail- 
road, was  of  great  importance.  It  narrowed  our  big  country, 
and  brought  the  National  Government  to  each  man's  door. 
For  some  time  past  the  question  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas  to  the  United  States  had  been  receiving  a  good  share 
of  the  public  attention.      Let  us  look  for  a 

Texasi 

moment  at  the  history  of  the  whole  matter. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1819-'21  the  United  States 
agreed  with  Spain  that  the  Sabine  River  should  be  our 
southwestern  boundary.  Under  the  Louisiana  treaty  we 
had  ground  for  claiming  even  as  far  as  the  Rio  Grande,  but 
of  course  gave  up  our  claim  by  the  later  agreement.  Hard- 
ly had  the  treaty  with  Spain  been  agreed  to  when  Mexico 
attained  her  independence  and  came  into  the  ownership 
of  the  Texas  country.  Settlers  from  the  Southern  States 
began  to  move  into  this  territory.  Before  1830  there  was 
a  considerable  American  population  there,  utterly  out  of 


354  HISTORY  Otf  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

sympathy  with  Mexico  and  her  whole  political  system.  In 
1836  the  Texans  declared  their  independence,  and,  led  by 
Samuel  Houston,  fought  and  won  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto. 
From  that  time  on  Mexican  authority  practically  ceased. 
The  next  year  Texas  asked  admittance  to  the  Union.  Many 
of  the  Southern  people  now  became  intent  upon  annexation 
because  it  would  extend  slave  territory.  Nothing  of  impor- 
tance was  done  in  Van  Buren's  administration,  but  after 
Tyler  came  into  office  plans  for  getting  Texas  were  seriously 
taken  up,  especially  by  some  of  the  Southern  enthusiasts. 
In  1844  Calhoun  became  Secretary  of  State.  He  bent  all 
his  energies  toward  the  desired  end.  A  treaty  of  annexa- 
tion was  secretly  entered  into,  but  it  was  rejected  by  the 
Senate.  Texas  claimed  that  she  possessed  more  territory 
than  the  original  Mexican  province  of  that  name,  and  in- 
deed a  much  greater  territory  than  she  had  ever  acquired 
control  of.  She  claimed  all  east  and  north  of  the  Eio 
Grande.*  Annexation  of  the  State  and  adoption  of  her 
claims  meant  probably  a  war  with  Mexico.  Such  was  the 
situation  when  the  election  of  1844  occurred. 

It  was  generally  supposed  that  Van  Buren  would  be  the 
Democratic  candidate  in  this  election.     But  he  opposed  the 

annexation  of  Texas,  and  was  defeated  in  the 
?o4?dates  in      convention.     James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  was 

nominated  in  his  stead.  George  M.  Dallas,  of 
Pennsylvania,  secured  the  nomination  for  Vice-President. f 
Clay,  too,  objected  to  bringing  Texas  into  the  Union,  but 

*  "  That  is,  as  if  Maine  should  secede,  and  claim  that  her  boundaries 
were  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Potomac.  .  .  .  That  is,  as  if  Maine  should 
join  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  England  should  set  up  a  claim  to  the 
New  England  and  Middle  States,  based  on  the  declaration  of  Maine 
aforesaid."  (Sumner,  Andrew  Jackson,  p.  357.)  This  illustration  is  in 
somewhat  exaggerated  form,  but  shows  the  Texas  situation  well. 

f  The  Democratic  platform  demanded  "  the  reoccupation  of  Oregon 
and  the  reannexation  of  Texas  at  the  earliest  practical  period."  These 
words  were  shrewdly  chosen  to  indicate  that  we  had  given  up  territory 
that  was  justly  ours. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  TYLER— 1841-1845.  355 

the  Whigs  nominated  him  with  enthusiasm,  and  gave  the 
second  place  to  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey. 
The  Liberty  party  was  again  in  the  field,  with  Birney  and 
Thomas  Morris  for  their  candidates. 

The  burning  question  of  the  campaign  was  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas.  In  the  midst  of  the  contest,  Clay,  hoping  to 
win  friends  of  annexation  without  repelling  its 
Clay  and  the  foes^  wrote  his  famous  Alabama  letters.  He 
declared  he  should  be  glad  to  see  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  "without  dishonor,  without  war,  with  the 
common  consent  of  the  Union,  and  on  just  and  fair  terms." 
He  did  not  think  "  the  subject  of  slavery  ought  to  affect 
the  matter."  By  these  words  he  lost  many  Northern  votes, 
without  gaining  any  from  the  South  or  from  the  extreme 
annexationists,  who  were  now  shouting  "  Texas  or  dis- 
union ! "  On  the  whole,  the  Whigs  were  strongly  opposed 
to  the  acquisition  of  more  slave  territory,  and  those  who 
were  not  averse  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  strongly  dis- 
approved of  hasty  measures  and  the  studied  disregard  of 
Mexico's  protests. 

The  Democratic  party,  however,  by  the  nomination  of 
Polk  instead  of  Van  Buren,  and  by  the  direct  statements  of 

its  platform,  was  committed  to  annexation. 
The  Democrats.    ~*r  ^-     j_i  t-v  j       -i      t  n 

Many  JN  orthern  Democrats  doubtless  were  op- 
posed to  slavery  extension,  but  party  ties  held  them  close, 
and  they  voted  for  Polk  and  the  "  reannexation  "  of  Texas. 
This  was  a  turning  point  in  the  party  history,  for  this 
sympathy  with  a  movement  which  seemed  intended,  in 
large  part  at  least,  only  to  add  another  slave  State  to  the 
Union,  alienated  a  number  of  old-time  Democrats  at  the 
North  and  won  new  adherents  at  the  South.  The  small 
farmers  of  the  Northern  States  had  from  the  beginning  of 
the  century  belonged  naturally  in  the  ranks  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  beside  the  agriculturists  of  the  South;  but 
now  this  element  began  to  drift  away  from  its  old  moor- 
ings, either  into  the  AVhig  party  or  into  the  party  that  was, 


356  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

more  definitely  the  foe  of  slavery  and  slave  extension.  One 
must  speak  here  only  of  tendencies  and  beginnings.  These 
changes  were  wrought  out  only  gradually.  But  we  shall 
find  that  in  the  course  of  fifteen  years  the  Democracy  lost 
its  hold  upon  the  Northern  States,  and,  by  a  careful  exam- 
ination, we  can  see  that  this  loss  took  its  marked  begin- 
nings with  the  Texas  agitation  and  the  nomination  of  Polk. 
The  election  was  an  exciting  contest.  Clay  had  all  the 
qualities  of  leadership,  and  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
people.  Men  were  devoted  to  him  with  some- 
Election  and       thing  akin  to  a  deep  affection.     The  extrava- 

results 

gances  of  1840  were  not  repeated,  but  there  was 
great  and  intense  earnestness.  While  Texas  was  the  absorb- 
ing topic,  many  sought  to  blind  their  own  eyes  or  those  of 
others  to  the  real  question.  The  tariff  was  discussed  at 
great  length,  and  at  the  North  especially  both  parties 
claimed  to  be  its  defenders.  Some  little  enthusiasm,  too, 
was  aroused  by  the  proposition  of  the  Democratic  platform 
to  take  possession  of  the  Oregon  country,  then  held  jointly 
with  England.  Clay  was  defeated.  Had  the  Liberty  party 
cast  its  vote  for  him,  he  would  have  been  elected.  Over 
sixty  thousand  votes  were  given  for  its  candidates,  and  it 
held  the  balance  of  power  in  New  York  and  Michigan. 
The  Whigs  were  greatly  cast  down  over  the  defeat.  "  It 
was,"  said  an  eyewitness,  "as  if  the  firstborn  of  every 
family  had  been  stricken  down." 

Tyler  and  his  helpmates,  intent  upon  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  believed  that  the  result  of  the  election  gave  full  war- 
rant for  immediate  action.  Florida  and  Loui- 
Annexation  siana  had  been  annexed  by  treaty.  But  Texas 
was  an  independent  power,  and  it  was  proposed 
to  pass  a  joint  resolution  inviting  her  into  the  Union.  If  a 
treaty  were  made,  it  would  be  necessary  that  two  thirds  of  the 
Senate  should  vote  to  confirm  it,  and  such  a  vote  could  not 
be  secured.  A  resolution  required  only  a  majority  of  each 
House,     This;  then,  seemed  the  only  feasible  plan  for  the 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   TYLER— 1841-1845. 


357 


annexationists.  A  joint  resolution  was  passed  giving  the 
President  authority  either  to  invite  Texas  into  the  Union 
as  a  State  or  to  negotiate  formally  with  her  concerning  ad- 
mission. It  declared  that  four  new  States  besides  Texas 
might  be  made  out  of  her  territory,  but  that  in  any  new 
States  so  formed  there  should  be  no  slavery  north  of  36°  30'. 
Tyler  did  not  hesitate  which  of  the  alternatives  to  accept. 


He  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  honor  of  annexation  to  Polk  ; 
so  the  day  before  he  left  office  he  sent  off  a  messenger  in 
hot  haste  to  the  "  Lone  Star  Republic  "  with 
efTexutfae  proposals  for  immediate  union  (March,  1845). 
beginning  of  Texas,  of  course,  accepted  the  invitation.  This 
1  e  exxd'  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  ;  from  this  time 

on  the  policy  of   slavery  extension   found  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  bitter  opponents  at  the  North.     Texas 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  the  last  slave  State  admitted  to  the  Union.  Texas  claimed 
all  the  land  north  and  east  of  the  Eio  Grande  River  from 
its  mouth  to  its  source,  and  south  and  west  of  the  line  of 
1819-'21.  By  this  annexation  there  was  added  to  the  United 
States  376,163  square  miles  of  territory,  an  area  greater  than 
that  of  France  and  England  combined.  The  accession  of 
so  much  slave  territory  naturally  startled  the  North  and 
made  men  watchful  and  suspicious.  We  must  not  think 
that  there  was  as  yet  anything  like  a  united  sentiment  at 
the  North  against  the  extension  of  slavery,  but  every  year 
and  every  new  success  on  the  part  of  the  South  tended  to 
awaken  and  strengthen  antislavery  feeling.  Up  to  this 
time  the  North  had  rested  in  some  security,  because  slavery 
was  hemmed  in  by  the  Missouri  compromise  line  and  the 
southern  and  western  limits  of  the  Union.  In  the  future 
there  was  to  be  little  security ;  the  annexation  of  Texas 
showed  a  new  way  of  adding  to  the  limits  of  slavery. 

References. 

The  best  short  accounts  are  in  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion, 
pp.  133-145;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  Volume  II,  pp.  198-268;  Lodge, 
Daniel  Webster,  Chapter  VIII;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History, 
Volume  IV,  pp.  356-369;  Roosevelt,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  pp. 
237-316;  Burgess,  The  Middle  Period,  pp.  278-327.  Longer  ac- 
count :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  359-494. 


Keproduction  of  the  First  Telegraphic  Message  sent  by  the 
Morse  System,  now  Preserved  at  Harvard  College. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Territorial  Expansion— Shall  Slave  Territory  be  extended?— 
1845-1861. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  JAMES  K.  POLK— 1845-1849. 

James  K.  Polk  was  in  many  ways  a  remarkable  man. 
When  he  was  nominated  for  the  presidency  he  was  not 
well  known,  though  he  had  been  in  Congress, 
and  even  Speaker  of  the  House.  "Who  is 
Polk  ?  "  was  a  common  inquiry,  and  the  Whigs  made  much 
sport  of  the  Democrats  for  placing  such  a  competitor 
against  their  peerless  Clay.  But  when  Polk  assumed  office 
it  became  apparent  that  he  was  no  pygmy;  and  as  one 
studies  his  career  in  the  light  of  historical  evidence  it  is 
seen  that  he  was  in  some  sort  a  man  of  iron,  with  unyield- 
ing determination  and  unflinching  purpose.  He  was  a  keen 
and  unrelenting  partisan,  but  conscientiously  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  his  country  as  he  saw  them.  Altogether 
pure  and  upright  in  private  life,  in  politics  his  feelings 
were  not  delicate,  and  in  diplomacy  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
he  believed  that  an  honorable  end  justified  unworthy  means. 
His  Cabinet  was  composed  of  able  men.  The  more  impor- 
tant were  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of 
State ;  Kobert  J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury ;  William  L.  Marcy,  of  New  York,  Secretary  of 
War;  George  Bancroft,  of  Massachusetts,  the  historian, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  his  administration  the  Presi- 
dent privately  announced  the  purpose  not  only  of  establish- 
ing the  independent  Treasury  and  reducing  the  tariff,  but 
also  of  settling  the  northwestern  boundary  trouble  and  ac- 
24  359 


360  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

quiring  California.  He  succeeded  in  accomplishing  all  these 
objects.  The  independent  Treasury  was  re-established.  A 
new  tariff  act  was  passed  materially  lowering 
The  Presi-  ^he  duties  and  making  inroads  upon  the  pro- 
tective system  so  dear  to  the  Whigs.  How  he 
achieved  his  other  objects  we  shall  see  as  we  go  on. 

Texas,  as  we  have  seen,  accepted  the  invitation  to  enter 
the  Union.  This  was  in  the  summer  of  1845.  Congress 
installed  her  as  a  State  in  the  Union  in  December  of  that 
year.  Before  that  was  done,  however — before,  in  fact, 
Texas  was  legally  part  of  the  United  States — Polk  sent 
troops  within  her  boundaries  to  defend  her  against  possible 
attack,  and  to  make  sure  that  annexation  was  not  inter- 
rupted by  Mexican  interference.  General  Zachary  Taylor 
was  ordered  to  Texas,  and  in  November  had  about  four 
thousand  men  in  his  command.  He  took  a  position  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Nueces  Kiver. 

While  the  plans  for  the  acquisition  of  Texas  were  being 
thus  carried  to  a  successful  end,  hopes  of  new  possessions 
in  the  Northwest  were  likewise  awakened.  For 
The  reoccupa-  some  years  the  land  beyond  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  north  of  California,  known  as  the 
Oregon  country,  had  been  jointly  occupied  by  England  and 
the  United  States.  Each  claimed  the  title,  but  for  the 
time  being  agreed  not  to  demand  exclusive  rights  there. 
Our  demands  were  based  (1)  on  the  Louisiana  purchase,  a 
shadowy  title,  (2)  upon  the  Spanish  cession  of  1819-'21,  (3) 
upon  early  exploration,  and  (4)  upon  settlement  and  occu- 
pation. England's  claims  were  similar.  She  claimed  by 
discovery,  basing  her  title  in  the  first  place  on  the  voyage 
of  Drake  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Later  explora- 
tion helped  to  substantiate  her  title,  and  settlements  had 
been  made  by  English  subjects  on  Xootka  Sound  even  at 
the  end  of  the  last  century.  Of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia, 
however,  or  at  least  the  larger  portion  of  it,  we  were  fairly 
well  assured,  because  for   some  years  emigrants  from  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  POLK— 1845-1849.  361 

States  had  been  making  their  way  thither,  and  even  now 
(1845-'46)  the  emigrant  wagons  were  carrying  many  new 
settlers  to  the  region.  This  actual  occupation  gave  us  nine 
clear  points  in  law.  The  "  reoccupation  "  of  Oregon  had 
been  coupled  in  the  presidential  campaign  with  the  "  rean- 
nexation  "  of  Texas,  for  we  claimed  both  under  the  Louisi- 
ana treaty,  and  now,  after  the  inauguration  of  Polk,  there 
was  a  popular  demand,  especially  from  the  Western  States, 
for  "  the  whole  of  Oregon,"  and  the  cry  was  raised  of  "  Fifty- 
four  forty  or  fight."  *  It  looked  for  a  time,  indeed,  as  if  war 
might  ensue,  because  it  could  hardly  be  hoped  that  Eng- 
land would  consent  to  having  her  American  dominions 
limited  by  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  difficulty  was  finally 
settled,  however,  by  a  compromise.  The  two  countries 
showed  their  good  sense  by  not  fighting  for  land  or  sup- 
posed honor,  when  both  had  reasonable  grounds  for  their 
claims.  The  forty-ninth  parallel  already  marked  the  divi- 
sion between  the  British  dominions  and  those  of  the  United 
States  as  far  west  as  the  mountains,  and  the  same  line  was 
now  agreed  upon  as  the  boundary  through  to  the  Pacific. f 

War  did  not  break  out  immediately  upon  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  as  might  well  have  been  the  case.     The  claims  of 

Texas  were  so  extraordinary  that  Mexico  could 
What  was  no£  admit  them  to  be  just,  inasmuch  as  they 

included  not  alone  the  old  province  of  Texas, 
but  a  large  territory  besides  over  which  the  State  had  not 
succeeded  in  establishing  control,  and  to  which  she  had  title 

*  Fifty-four  forty  was  the  southern  point  of  Alaska,  then  in  the  pos- 
session of  Russia,  known  as  Russian  America. 

f  The  statement  in  the  text  is  substantially  accurate,  but  it  is  worth 
remarking  that  the  line  ran  to  sea  water,  and  then  followed  the  middle 
of  the  channel  dividing  Vancouver's  Island  from  the  main,  and  then 
through  the  middle  of  Fuca  Strait.  A  dispute  later  arose  as  to  what 
was  the  middle  or  the  main  channel.  In  1872  the  German  Emperor, 
chosen  as  arbitrator,  gave  his  decision  in  favor  of  America.  Thus  ninety 
years  elapsed  (1782-1872)  before  our  northern  line  was  finally  deter- 
mined.    See  map,  p.  370. 


362  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

only  by  assertion.  What  were  the  boundaries  of  Texas  as  a 
province  of  Mexico  is  somewhat  difficult  to  say,  and,  in  fact, 
what  they  were  makes  little  difference.  The  Texans  had 
certainly  not  made  good,  by  war  and  occupation,  a  title  to 
more  than  so  much  of  the  Mexican  territory  as  lay  north  of 
the  Nueces  Eiver  and  east  of  the  present  eastern  boundary 
of  New  Mexico.  By  our  assumption  of  the  claim  of  Texas 
to  all  the  land  north  and  east  of  the  Rio  Grande  from  its 
mouth  to  its  source,  and  by  any  endeavor  to  follow  up  our 
claim  by  taking  actual  possession  of  the  disputed  portion, 
we  were  sure  to  bring  on  war,  unless  Mexico  was  submissive 
and  ready  to  bow  before  the  superior  strength  of  the  United 
States.  But  such  was  not  the  case.  Poor,  weak,  torn  by 
internal  strife  and  dissension,  the  Mexicans  still  retained 
a  modicum  of  their  old  Spanish  spirit.  They  were  not 
given  to  self-control  at  the  best,  and  were  now  greatly 
irritated. 

Moreover,  Polk  wanted  California  and  laid  his  plans  to 
get  it.  While  he  was  doubtless  ready  to  buy  the  coveted 
D   .  region,  he  was  also  ready  to  surround  Mexico 

to  obtain  with  difficulties,  and  willing  so  to  arrange  mat- 

Caiifomia.  £erg  that,  if  war  should  break  out,  we  could 

pounce  upon  California  and  add  another  vast  territory  to 
our  dominions.  The  methods  of  the  administration  were 
many  and  devious.  The  whole  affair  does  not  furnish  the 
pleasantest  reading  in  American  history,  for  it  can  hardly 
be  denied  that  our  Government  used  power  with  unseemly 
disregard  of  a  weaker  neighbor's  rights,  and  pressed  roughly 
forward  to  the  goal  we  wished  for.  It  is  not  agreeable  to 
remember  that  those  in  authority  forgot  the  high  duty  rest- 
ing upon  them  as  the  representatives  of  a  great  country 
claiming  to  be  the  leader  of  the  New  World,  not  in  might 
alone,  but  in  intelligence,  virtue,  and  the  graces  of  civiliza- 
tion. The  far  West,  which  soon  proved  to  be  golden,  be- 
longed, perhaps,  by  a  manifest  destiny  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
man ;  but  if  we  could  have  obtained  it  by  means  that  re- 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  POLK— 1845-1849.  363 

dounded  to  our  honor,  this  would  have  been  a  brighter  page 
in  our  history. 

Although  one  must  acknowledge  that  in  large  measure 

the  South  was  moved  by  a  desire  to  attain  more  territory 

.       ,    for  slavery,  and  that  Polk  was  not  magnani- 

Geograpny  and  .  „  , 

manifest  mous  m  his  treatment  of  Mexico,  we  should 

destiny.  no^  forget  that  the  American  feeling  of  mani- 

fest destiny  had  a  physical  basis.  Texas  was,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  part  of  the  great  central  valley  of  the  conti- 
nent, the  greater  portion  of  which  had  become  part  of  the 
American  possessions ;  the  Eio  Grande  seemed  to  be  the 
only  reasonable  halting  place  in  the  forward  movement  of 
the  population  toward  the  Southwest.  This  energetic  for- 
ward movement  into  the  unsettled  regions  of  the  West  had 
been  going  on  since  the  English  colonists  first  settled  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  with  redoubled  energy  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century.  Aptitude  for  settling 
new  areas  and  for  subduing  the  wilderness,  zeal  for  more 
land  and  wider  dominion,  had  become  national  traits.  This 
is  no  excuse  for  the  methods  used  in  wresting  Texas  and 
the  far  West  from  the  nerveless  hands  of  Mexico ;  but  it  ex- 
plains the  fact  in  part.  "  It  would  be  vain  to  expect,"  said 
Calhoun,  "that  we  could  prevent  our  people  from  penetrat- 
ing into  California.  Even  before  our  present  difficulties 
with  Mexico  the  process  had  begun.  We  alone  can  people 
[this  region]  with  an  industrious  and  civilized  race,  which 
can  develop  its  resources  and  add  a  new  and  extensive  re- 
gion to  the  domain  of  commerce  and  civilization."  *    Benton 

*  These  words  were  spoken  after  the  war  with  Mexico  had  begun. 
Calhoun,  it  may  be  said,  was  opposed  to  the  war,  but  believed  that  our 
acquisition  of  the  West  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  We  must  remember 
that  from  the  very  beginning  of  English  colonization  the  settlers  in 
America  had  been  pitted  against  other  nations  for  the  possession  of  the 
continent.  The  acquisition  of  Texas  and  California  was  another  step 
in  the  great  contest  with  Spain  for  dominion  in  America — a  contest  that 
began  with  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  his  desire  to  build  up  a  colonial 
realm  for  England  and  to  weaken  the  power  of  Spain.     (See  chapter  ii.) 


364  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  opposed  to  the  methods  of  annexation,  and  denounced 
intrigue  ;  but  he  desired  the  acquisition  of  the  country  by 
honorable  means.  His  words  show  us  that  the  movement 
was  not  merely  a  Southern  conspiracy  to  extend  slavery. 
"  We  want  Texas,"  he  said — "  that  is  to  say,  the  Texas  of  La 
Salle  ;  and  we  want  it  for  great  natural  reasons  obvious  as 
day,  and  permanent  as  Nature." 

The  land  between  the  Nueces  Eiver  and  the  Eio  Grande 
was  claimed  by  the  United  States  as  a  part  of  Texas ;  but 
Mexico  was  not  ready  to  give  up  her  title.  In 
egtm'  the  early  part  of  1846  Polk,  without  sending 
word  of  his  intention  to  Congress,  which  was  then  in  ses- 
sion, ordered  General  Taylor  to  take  a  position  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Eio  Grande.  Taylor  obeyed,  and,  moving  to 
the  river,  intrenched  himself  opposite  the  Mexican  town  of 
Matamoras,  where  there  were  Mexican  troops.  "  The  armies 
being  thus  in  presence,  with  anger  in  their  bosoms  and  arms 
in  their  hands,  that  took  place  which  everybody  foresaw 
must  take  place — collisions  and  hostilities."*  A  detach- 
ment of  Mexican  troops  was  sent  across  the  river  by  Arista, 
the  commanding  general.  A  small  body  of  Americans  was 
attacked  and  a  few  were  killed.  When  the  news  reached 
the  President,  he  sent  a  message  to  Congress  declaring  that 
"  Mexico  has  passed  the  boundary  of  the  United  States,  has 
invaded  our  territory,  and  shed  American  blood  upon  Amer- 
ican soil."  War  existed,  he  declared,  notwithstanding  all 
efforts  to  avoid  it,  and  existed  "  by  the  act  of  Mexico  her- 
self." Congress  declared,  May  13,  1846,  that  war  existed 
by  act  of  Mexico.  Money  was  appropriated,  and  the  Presi- 
dent was  authorized  to  call  for  fifty  thousand  volunteers. 

There  was  now  no  help  for  it,  and  the  country  prepared 
for  war.  It  was  from  the  first  popular  with  many.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  strong  element  was  bitterly  opposed, 
not  knowing  in  their  bewilderment  where  the  land  hunger 

*  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  vol.  ii,  p.  679. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   POLK— 1845-1849.  365 

of  the  nation  would  carry  it.  To  the  Whigs  it  seemed  a 
Democratic  war.  Not  all  were  opposed ;  hut  those  who  had 
been  averse  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  were  ready  to 
War  un  o  ul  denounce  these  bloody  consequences.  To  the 
with  some  antislavery  element  at  the  North  it  seemed  a 

persons.  war  on  benalf  of  slavery  and  for  the   exten- 

sion of  slave  territory.  The  feelings  of  these  men  were 
well  voiced  in  the  Biglow  Papers,  which  were  at  this  junc- 
ture written  by  James  Russell  Lowell  and  were  very  widely 
read.  The  keen  sarcasm  and  homely  humor  of  these  verses 
— more  effective  than  argument — made  converts  to  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  ;  the  war  was  more  seriously  attacked  in  these 
telling  lines  than  by  scores  of  pamphlets  and  speeches.* 

The  first   engagement  of  the  war   took   place  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Rio  Grande.     Taylor's  defenses  were 
attacked  in  his  absence,  but  the  garrison  obeyed 
battles8*  to  tne  ^e^er  the  instructions  which  their  gen- 

eral had  left :  "  Defend  the  fort  to  the  death." 
The  attack  was  repulsed.  Then  followed  the  battles  of 
Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  May  8  and  9, 1846.  The 
Americans,  under  Taylor,  were  greatly  outnumbered,  but 
fought  with  gallantry.  The  Mexicans  were  defeated,  and 
withdrew  across  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Americans  followed, 
and  occupied  Matamoras.  After  waiting  here  for  a  time 
that  re-enforcements  might  be  obtained,  they  pushed  on  into 
the  enemy's  country,  and  in  September  reached  Monterey, 
a  strongly  fortified  city.  Here  there  was  heavy  fighting, 
but  battery  after  battery  was  taken  by  assault,  and  the 

*  "  I  dunno  but  wut  it's  pooty, 

Trainin'  round  in  bobtail  coats, — 
But  it's  cur'us  Christian  dooty, 
This  'ere  cuttin'  folks's  throats. 

"  They  jest  want  this  Californy 
So's  to  lug  new  slave  States  in 
To  abuse  ye,  an'  to  scorn  ye, 
An'  to  plunder  ye  like  sin." 


866 


HISTOUY    OK   T11K    AMERICAN    PKOPLK. 


plaoe  tell.  Taylor  thou  moved  forward  again.  In  Feb* 
ruarv  (1847)  occurred  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista.  The 
Mexicans  had  four  times  as  many  troops  as  the  Americans, 
but  the  American  army  was  posted  in  a  strong  position. 
The  Mexicans  fought  with  great  courage  and  obstinacy,  but 
they   were   beaten  again.      The   whole  of  the  surrounding 


citv  or  %v,v- 

MKXICO^V 

Onto  Gordoj 


Tin:  MEXICAN  WAR 


country,  by  reason  of  this  victory,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Americans. 

We  may  now  turn  to  consider  the  movements  of  the 
other  armies  of  invasion.  Genera]  Kearny  marched  across 
the  plains  to  Santa  Ke,  hoisted  the  American  Hag  there, 
and    proclaimed    New  Mexico  a  part    of    the    I'nited   States. 


ADMINISTRATION    OK    POLK- 1845-1840, 


367 


He  then   marched  on  into  California,  and  reached  San 

Diego.      Long  before   his  arrival,   however,   the    principal 

part  of  that  region  had  passed  into  our  hands. 

Ne.wnM.e.?C0.        For  some  time  a  squadron  had  been  kept  on  the 

and  California.  *  r 

western  coast,  ready  to  pounce  upon  the  prize. 
When  war  was  begun — in  fact,  even  before  it  was  known 
that  an  express  declaration  had  been  made — Monterey  was 
seized.  San  Francisco  and  other  chief  harbors  were  also 
occupied. 

A  new  movement  was  begun  in  the  early  spring  of  IS  IT. 
General  Scott  took  Vera  Cruz,  and  began  a  march  to  the 

city  of  Mexico.    A 

fierce    battle    took 

place  at  Cerro  Gor- 

the  Mexicans,  as 
usual,  fought  with  bravery,  and, 
as  usual,  were  beaten.*  Scott 
led  his  army  forward  again. 
lie  met  with  little  opposition 
until  near  the  enemy's  capital. 
Here  there  were  strong  de- 
fenses ;  but  the  Americans  won 
a  series  of  unbroken  victories. 
The  soldiers  fought  bravely, 
while  Scott  and  his  lieutenants 
showed  great  skill  and  daring. 
In  September  the  heights  of 
Chapultepec  were  stormed  and  the  city  of  Mexico  was  taken. 
Peace  was  soon  after  concluded. 


General  Scott'8 
army. 

do,   where 


./^A^ie^t  Jc^lr 


*  General  Grant,  who  served  as  a  second  lieutenant  in  this  war, 
speaks  thus  of  the  Mexican  troops:  "The  Mexicans,  u  on  many  other 
occasions,  stood  up  ms  well  as  Mtiy  troops  ever  did.  The  trouble  seemed 
to  be  the  laek  of  experience  anions]:  the  officers,  which  led  them  after  ■ 
certain  time  to  quit,  without  being  particularly  whipped,  but  because 
they  had  (Sought  enough."  This  remark  is  characteristic  of  Grant,  who 
did  not  fight  in  that  way  himself. 


368  HISTORY  OF  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 

This  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  wars  in 
history.  Our  troops  won  every  pitched  battle.  Scott 
Ch  t  r  nd  marcned  for  two  hundred  miles  and  more  into 
influence  of  the  enemy's  country,  and  wrested  stronghold 
the  war.  after  stronghold  from  the  hands  of  greatly  su- 

perior forces.  This  war  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the 
War  of  1812.  Both  were  party  wars ;  but  in  this  one  the 
generals  were  fit  to  command,  and  the  soldiers  were  thor- 
oughly disciplined  and  equipped.  Many  of  the  generals 
who  afterward  became  prominent  in  the  rebellion  obtained 
in  Mexico  their  first  practical  lessons  in  military  art. 
Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Eobert  E.  Lee  served  in  subordinate 
positions,  both  with  credit.  This  war,  in  more  than  one 
sense,  was  the  precursor  of  the  civil  war. 

The  war  was  not  concluded — indeed,  was  hardly  well  be- 
gun— before  the  inevitable  slavery  question  arose  in  Con- 
gress. In  August,  1846,  the  President  asked 
The  Wilmot        f0Y  monev  t0  ai(j  m  bringing  the  war  to  a  close. 

proviso.  J  on 

It  was  supposed  that  the  money  was  to  be  used 
to  buy  territory.  A  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  ap- 
propriating two  million  dollars.  David  Wilmot,  a  Demo- 
cratic Eepresentative  from  Pennsylvania,  proposed  that 
there  be  added  to  the  bill  a  proviso  that  slavery  should 
never  exist  within  any  territory  acquired  from  Mexico.  The 
bill  with  this  proviso  passed  the  House,  but  did  not  pass  the 
Senate.  The  same  contest  between  the  two  houses  took 
place  the  next  year ;  but  the  Senate  finally  won,  and  an 
appropriation  of  three  million  dollars  was  made  without  the 
antislavery  condition.  The  "  Wilmot  proviso  "  was  for  sev- 
eral years  used  as  a  general  phrase — not  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  amendment  of  Wilmot,  but  to  the  principle 
which  it  contained.  All  who  were  opposed  to  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  were  said  to  be  in  favor  of  the  "  Wilmot 
proviso." 

February  2,  1848,  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo  was 
signed,  ending  the  Mexican  War.     It  was  ratified  by  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  POLK— 1845-1849.  369 

Senate  the  next  month.  By  its  terms  the  United  States 
became  possessed  not  only  of  the  disputed  territory,  which 
_    .  .      had  been  claimed  by  Texas,  but  of  a  vast  ter- 

The  treaty  of  J  mt 

Guadaloupe  ritory  to  the  west  as  well.  The  boundary  line 
Hidalgo.  agreed  upon   ran  up  the  Eio   Grande  to  the 

southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico,  thence  along  the  south- 
ern boundary  to  the  western  limit  of  New  Mexico,  up  these 
western  limits  to  the  Gila  Eiver,  thence  along  that  river  to 
the  Colorado,  and  from  the  junction  of  these  two  rivers 
followed  the  line  dividing  Upper  and  Lower  California  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.*  The  United  States  paid  $15,000,000  in 
cash,  and  agreed  to  pay  in  addition  claims  of  its  citizens 
on  the  Mexican  Government  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
$3,250,000,  and  other  claims  already  definitely  allowed  by 
Mexico.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  how  much  was 
secured  by  this  cession  as  the  fruit  of  the  war.  There 
was  thus  added  to  the  United  States  about  875,000  square 
miles,  including  Texas  and  what  is  now  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  result  of  Polk's  aggressive  policy,  aided  by  Southern 
zeal  and  the  native  land  hunger  of  the  nation,  was  an  aston- 
ishing increase  of  the  national  domain  in  the 
Territorial  course   of    four    years.      March   4,   1845,   the 

expansion. 

western  boundary  of  the  United  States  was  the 
line  of  1819,  and  we  occupied,  jointly  with  Great  Britain, 
the  Oregon  country.  In  1848  the  republic  stretched  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  as  far  south  as  the  Rio  Grande  Eiver.  The 
Bay  of  San  Francisco,  the  coveted  harbor  of  the  western 
coast,  was  in  our  hands.  If  we  include  Oregon  in  the 
acquisitions  of  this  administration,  over  1,000,000  square 

*  In  1853,  due  to  the  fact  that  some  question  had  arisen  about  this 
boundary,  and  because  a  proposed  route  for  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific 
ran  somewhat  south  of  our  line  at  the  Gila  River,  another  purchase 
was  made  from  Mexico.  This  was  known  as  the  Gadsden  purchase,  and 
included  47,330  square  miles.  The  map  will  show  the  land  so  acquired. 
The  sura  paid  was  $10,000,000. 


370 


HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY      ^ 
IN  THE  WEST  1803-53 

The  line  marked  XY  was  undetermined 
and  in  dispute  and  partly  on  this  account 
the  GADSDEN  PURCHASE  was  made 


miles  were  added  to  American  territory,  more  than  the 
whole  area  of  the  United  States  when  its  independence 
was  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain.* 

Square  miles.  Square  miles. 

*  Texas  (1845) 376,163    Austrian  Empire 240,942 

First  Mexican  cession .     545,753  Germany,  France,  and  Spain    613,093 

Oregon 284,828    Sweden  and  Italy 285,383 

1,206,744  M39,418 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   POLK— 1845-1849.  371 

The  country  might  well  be  lifted  up  as  it  contemplated 
its  greatness  and  exalted  the   courage   and  skill  of   our 

soldiers  in  Mexico.  But  the  acquisition  of  this 
for  bodh?  and     new  territory  was  at  once  the  cause  of  great 

foreboding  and  of  deep  and  bitter  feeling. 
Territorial  expansion  was  especially  in  favor  at  the  South, 
and  now,  even  before  the  war  was  ended,  and  before  the 
land  for  which  the  soldiers  were  fighting  was  securely 
wrested  from  Mexico,  the  slaveholders  saw  men  at  the 
North  asserting  that  slavery  should  not  be  admitted  into 
any  part  of  the  territory  acquired.  To  many  at  the 
,South  this  seemed  like  robbing  them  of  the  just  spoils  of 
conquest. 

The  people  were  fully  awake  to  the  momentousness  of 
the  issue.     The  North  was  divided.     Few  were  desirous  of 

seeing  slavery  admitted  to  the  new  territory ; 
Shall  slavery       ^^  many  were  not  [n  sympathy  with  a  policy 

which  would  rigidly  exclude  the  Southerner 
with  his  human  property,  because  they  believed  that  the 
question  would  settle  itself,  if  men  would  only  consent  to 
let  it  alone.  Such  persons  looked  upon  "agitation"  as 
the  great  evil,  because  discussion  of  the  slavery  question 
angered  the  South  and  endangered  the  Union.  Others,  an 
increasing  number,  were  now  flatly  opposed  to  further  ex- 
tension of  slavery,  and  they  demanded  the  principle  of  the 
Wilmot  proviso  without  qualification  and  without  delay. 
Let  us  not  mistake  the  situation.  It  is  not  true  that  for 
fifteen  years  before  the  civil  war  a  solid  North  faced  a  solid 
South.  The  South  naturally  was  nearly  a  unit  on  the 
principle  of  extending  slavery,  or  at  least  declared  the  slave- 
holders' right  to  move  into  the  new  possessions  of  the  nation 
— possessions  obtained  by  the  expenditure  of  national  blood 
and  treasure.  On  the  other  hand,  Northern  sentiment 
was  divided ;  only  a  minority  were  deeply  enough  in  earnest 
to  make  opposition  to  slavery  the  first  and  controlling  mo- 
tive of  political  conduct.     As  the  years  went  by  this  num- 


372  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ber  grew  larger,  until  something  like  a  solid  North  faced 
a  solid  South.  It  will  be  our  task  to  watch  the  phases  of 
this  movement  toward  a  unity  of  sentiment  at  the  North.* 
In  1847,  General  Lewis  Cass,  then  Senator  from  Michi- 
gan and  a  leader  in  the  Democratic  party,  wrote  his  famous 
Nicholson  letter.  He  had  been  a  prominent 
Popular  candidate  for  the  presidential  nomination  in 

sovereignty^  x 

1844,  and  was  now  mentioned  as  the  standard 
bearer  of  the  party  in  the  ensuing  campaign.  His  letter, 
when  published,  therefore  won  attention.  It  announced  a 
new  doctrine.  It  declared  that  the  National  Government 
ought  not  to  interfere  with  the  domestic  concerns  of  the 
Territories,  and,  in  short,  asserted  that  the  existence  of 
slavery  was  a  question  with  which  the  people  of  the  Terri- 
tories must  deal  themselves.  He  even  denied  that  Congress 
had  the  constitutional  authority  to  regulate  the  internal 
affairs  of  a  Territory.  "  I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution 
any  grant  of  the  requisite  power  to  Congress ;  and  I  am  not 
disposed  to  extend  a  doubtful  precedent  beyond  its  necessity 
— the  establishment  of  Territorial  governments,  when  needed 
— leaving  to  the  inhabitants  all  the  rights  compatible  with 
the  relation  they  bear  to  the  Confederation."  Thus  was 
stated  the  doctrine  later  known  as  "  popular  sovereignty." 

By  the  summer  of  1848  there  were  four  propositions 
before  the  country  concerning  slavery  in  the  territory  ac- 
quired from  Mexico.  (1)  That  of  Calhoun, 
sitions  regard-  wno  declared  that  the  territory  so  acquired 
ing  slavery  belonged  to  the  States,  and  that  a  Southern 
man  had  as  good  a  right  to  carry  his  slave  with 
him  into  the  Federal  domain  as  a  Northern  man  had  to 
take  his  sheep  or  his  oxen.     (2)  The  doctrine  of  the  Wil- 

*  The  student  must  not  be  confused  by  details  and  prevented  from 
seeing  the  main  drift  and  meaning  of  events.  From  now  on  to  1861 
the  question  ever  growing  more  important  was  whether  or  not  slavery 
should  be  hemmed  inside  its  old  limits,  or  be  allowed  to  expand  and 
occupy  the  WesU 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   POLK— 1845-1849.  373 

mot  proviso,  which  declared  it  to  be  the  moral  duty  of 
Congress  to  keep  slavery  out  of  the  public  domain.  The 
most  ardent  advocates  of  this  principle  denied  that  Con- 
gress had  the  right  to  legalize  slavery  in  national  territory. 
(3)  The  doctrine  of  the  Mcholson  letter.  (4)  The  exten- 
sion of  the  line  of  36°  30'  through  to  the  Pacific  as  the 
boundary  between  slavery  and  freedom.  The  idea  was 
already  spread  abroad  among  the  Northern  people  that  this 
new  West  was  ill  adapted  to  slave  labor ;  many  therefore 
favored  a  policy  of  neglect,  hoping  thereby  to  soothe  the 
South,  whose  peculiar  institution  would  be  driven  from  the 
region  by  Nature  herself,  whose  laws  were  stronger  than  any 
enactments  of  men.  Persons  holding  this  idea  were  likely 
to  support  either  the  third  or  the  fourth  of  the  propositions 
just  given. 

As  the  presidential  campaign  approached  the  Demo- 
cratic party  found  itself  divided.     Especially  in  New  York 
there  were  differences.     With  these  the  slavery 
emocra  s.   qUeg^on   jia(j   muc}1  to  do.     One  faction  was 

called  the  "  Old  Hunkers,"  the  other  the  "  Barnburners."  * 
The  latter  faction  was  personally  devoted  to  Van  Buren, 
and  expressed  its  "  uncompromising  hostility  to  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  into  territory  now  free."  The  Hunkers  were 
opposed  to  a  statement  of  principle.  The  National  Demo- 
cratic Convention  nominated  Cass  for  the  presidency,  and 
William  0.  Butler,  of  Kentucky,  for  the  vice-presidency. 
A  platform  was  adopted  full  of  safe  sayings,  but  not  defi- 
nitely committing  the  party  on  the  slavery  question. 

The  Whigs,  too,  were  not  united.     In  the  East  there 
were  "  Conscience  Whigs  "  and  "  Cotton  Whigs."    In  the 
Northwest  there  was  a  strong  antislavery  ele- 
6      lg8'        ment.     The  leaders  of  the  party  at  large,  how- 
ever, were  desirous  of  avoiding  the  dread  issue,  and  the  con- 
vention, when  it  met,  firmly  held  its  peace  on  the  great 

*  For  the  origin  of  these  names  see  Shephard's  Van  Buren,  p.  354; 
McLaughlin's  Cass,  p.  237. 


374  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

question  which  everybody  knew  was  in  everybody's  thoughts. 
Clay  was  still  popular,  but  many  feared  his  candidacy. 
Following  the  example  of  1840,  General  Taylor  was  put 
in  nomination.  Millard  Fillmore,  of  New  York,  was  nom- 
inated for  Vice-President.  These  nominations  meant  noth- 
ing, except  that  the  Whigs  did  not  dare  to  announce  prin- 
ciples, but  hoped  for  success  by  mere  dint  of  shouting  for 
"  Old  Eough  and  Eeady,"  as  Taylor  was  called. 

The   antislavery   Whigs  had  hoped  for  an  antislavery 

platform,  and  when  they  found  the  party  ready  to  hide 

itself  behind  a   popular   name  they   declared 

The  Free-  ^hat  they  would  not  be  bound  by  partv  ties. 

soilerSi  J  j    r       j 

The  Barnburners  and  other  dissatisfied  Demo- 
crats were  likewise  aroused  and  ready  for  independent 
action.  In  August  a  convention  at  Buffalo  nominated  Mar- 
tin Van  Buren  and  Charles  Francis  Adams.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Free-soil  party.  The  Liberty  party  coa- 
lesced with  it.  It  was  devoted,  without  shadow  of  turning, 
to  the  principle  of  free  soil.  "  Congress,"  it  declared,  "  has 
no  more  right  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a  king." 
"  Thunders  of  applause  "  are  said  to  have  followed  the  read- 
ing from  the  platform  of  such  sentences  as  this  :  "  Eesolved, 
that  we  inscribe  on  our  banner  free  soil,  free  speech,  free 
labor,  and  free  men,  and  under  it  we  will  fight  on  and  fight 
ever,  until  a  triumphant  victory  shall  reward  our  exertions." 
The  great  revolt  at  the  North  against  slavery  extension  was 
fairly  begun. 

Thus  there  were  three  candidates  in  the  field.  Two  of 
the  parties  refused  to  express  definite  opinions  on  the  slav- 
ery question ;  but  one  of  them  nominated  a  slave  owner, 
and  the  other  chose  as  its  leader  the  man  who  had  given 
out  his  belief  that  Congress  could  not  legislate  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  Taylor  and  Fillmore 
were  elected.  The  Free-soilers  cast  over  two  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  votes,  and  held  the  balance  of  power  in 
some  of  the  Northern  States.     Although  both  of  the  old 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  TAYLOR— 1849-1850. 


375 


parties  blinded  their  eyes  to  the  great  problem,  it  remained 
to  be  solved,  and  could  not  be  escaped.  Moreover,  there 
were  tens  of  thousands  of  men  at  the  North  that  were  now 
insisting  that  it  must  be  solved  by  a  recognition  of  principle. 

References. 

The  best  short  accounts  are  in  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion, 
pp.  145-160;  Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  IV,  pp. 
368-387;  Roosevelt,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  pp.  317-340;  Schurz,  Henry 
Clay,  Volume  II,  pp.  268-315;  Blaine,  Twenty  Years  in  Congress, 
Volume  I,  pp.  41-86;  Von  Hoist,  John  C.  Calhoun,  p.  260-335. 
Longer  accounts :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  495-550,  Vol- 
ume V,  pp.  1-128. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  ZACHARY  TAYLOR  AND   MILLARD 
FILLMORE— 1849-1853. 

General  Taylor's  life   up  to  the  time  of  his  election 

to  the  presidency  had  been  spent  in  large  measure  as  a 

soldier   in   the 

Zachary  Taylor.  -, 

J  J  regular  army. 
He  owned  a  plantation  in 
Louisiana  and  several  hun- 
dred slaves.  He  was  an  hon- 
est, straightforward  man, 
free  from  all  pretense,  with 
a  soldierly  devotion  to  duty, 
and  with  a  very  clear  sense 
of  right  and  justice.  In 
political  experience  he  was 
totally  lacking,  and  his 
knowledge  of  public  men 
and  events  was  necessarily 
limited.  He  is  said  to  have 
supposed,  until  a  short  time 
before  his  arrival  at  Wash- 
ington to  assume  office,  that  the  Vice-President  was  ex-officio 
25 


~7^c^/C^c^p/^t^ 


376  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

a  member  of  his  Cabinet.  Spite  of  his  unfamiliarity  with 
the  formalities  and  duties  of  his  position,  his  frankness 
and  honesty  did  not  ill  fit  him  for  the  presidency  in  the  try- 
ing days  that  were  before  the  people.  Slaveholder  as  he 
was,  he  could  see  no  reason  for  doing  aught  to  fasten  slav- 
ery on  regions  where  the  inhabitants  did  not  want  it,  and 
he  could  be  relied  upon  to  act  with  what  seemed  to  him 
complete  fairness. 

During  Polk's  administration  the  balance  between  South- 
ern and  Northern  States  had  been  preserved.    Florida  was 
admitted  in  1845,  and  Iowa  in  1846.     The  ad- 
mission of  Texas  was  offset  by  the  entrance  of 
Wisconsin  into  the  Union  in  1848.     In  the  summer  of  that 
year  Oregon  was  established  as  a  Territory.     The  act  of 
establishment  forbade  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  within 
the  territorial  limits.     Save  as  the  laws  of  Mexico  were 
recognized  or  military  rule  might  be  enforced, 
The  great  ^he   Territory  acquired  from   Mexico  as  the 

result  of  the  war  was  still  without  legal  organi- 
zation.    It  was  necessary  for  Congress  to  act  at  once. 

California  presented  peculiar  difficulties.     In  1848  gold 
was  discovered  there.     This  discovery  soon  made  a  deep 
impression  on  the  minds  of  the  Eastern  peo- 
S°??f in .  pie,  and  in  1849  a  great  migration  to  the  new 

gold  coast  set  in.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands left  their  homes  in  the  East  to  hunt  for  riches.  Long 
trains  of  wagons  started  on  the  weary  journey  over  the 
Western  prairies.  Every  sort  of  ocean  craft  was  pressed 
into  service  that  the  eager  crowds  might  be  carried  "  around 
the  Horn  "  or  landed  at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  to  make 
their  way  across  as  best  they  might.  Lawyers,  ministers, 
school-teachers,  mechanics,  men  from  all  walks  of  life,  old 
and  young,  hastened  away  to  the  gold  fields  to  make  their 
fortunes  in  a  day.  The  population  of  California  grew  with 
astounding  rapidity.  Something  like  eighty  thousand 
persons  arrived  there  in  a  single  year.     San  Francisco 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  TAYLOR— 1849-1850.  377 

changed  from  a  hamlet  to  a  city  in  a  twelvemonth.  The 
mad  race  for  the  gold  diggings  brought  together  a  motley 
crowd.  There  was  no  law  save  the  rough  code  of  the  min- 
ing camp.  The  whole  territory  was  on  the  very  verge  of 
anarchy ;  but  there  was  underneath  it  all  a  strong  senti- 
ment of  order. 

These  people,  thus  quickly  swept  together  into  a  com- 
munity without  law,  showed  in  the  end  rare  talent  for 
m  „.    .  organization.     In  September,  1849,  delegates 

California  6x    .  J  '  '  ® 

adopts  a  met  in  convention,  adopted  a  btate  Lonstitu- 

Constitutlon.  ^ion,  and  prepared  to  seek  admission  into  the 
Union.  A  clause  prohibiting  slavery  was  adopted  without 
difficulty.  The  people  ratified  the  Constitution,  and  elected 
State  officers  and  members  of  Congress. 

When  Congress  met,  therefore,  in  December,  1849,  seri- 
ous problems  demanded  immediate  solution.    (1)  California, 
with   a  free  Constitution,  claimed  immediate 
Serious  admission  into  the  Union.      Such   admission 

was  strongly  opposed  by  the  South,  for  it  would 
destroy  the  balance  between  the  States,  because  there  was  no 
slave  State  ready  for  entrance,  nor  was  there  likely  to  be 
for  some  time  to  come.  (2)  Some  sort  of  Territorial  govern- 
ment must  be  established  in  the  rest  of  the  land  obtained 
from  Mexico,  and  it  must  be  decided  whether  slavery  should 
be  recognized  there  or  not.  (3)  Moreover,  there  was  a  con- 
test between  Texas  and  the  people  of  the  old  Mexican  prov- 
ince of  New  Mexico.  Texas,  it  will  be  remembered,  seceded 
from  Mexico,  claiming  all  land  north  and  east  of  the  Eio 
Grande  Eiver.  But  the  province  of  New  Mexico  had  in 
reality  extended  considerably  to  the  east  of  this  river,  and 
the  Texans  had  never  succeeded  in  making  good  their  claim 
to  this  region.  The  people  of  New  Mexico  objected  to  hav- 
ing their  province  divided  and  the  eastern  portion  of  it 
embraced  in  the  State  of  Texas.  This  contest  Congress  was 
called  upon  to  settle.  (4)  In  addition  to  all  of  these  difficul- 
ties, slavery  presented  others.     The  Northerners  were,  year 


378  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

by  year,  more  hostile  to  the  whole  institution,  and  the  ex- 
istence of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  especially 
irritating.  Slaves  were  bought  and  sold  within  sight  of  the 
Capitol,  and  this  seemed  to  Northern  sentiment  a  disgrace 
no  longer  to  be  borne.  (5)  Many  desired  also  the  suppression 
of  the  trade  in  slaves  between  the  States,  as  clearly  within 
the  power  of  the  United  States  Government.  (6)  The  South- 
erners, resenting  any  interference  with  the  traffic  in  slaves, 
made  serious  charges  against  -the  North ;  they  charged  all 
the  North  with  the  sins  of  abolitionism ;  they  demanded  a 
more  stringent  fugitive  slave  law,  in  order  that  they  might 
thus  recover  the  hundreds  of  slaves  that  yearly  escaped  and 
made  their  way  to  the  North. 

Through  the  winter  of  1849-'50  the  feeling  was  intense. 

Southern  men  felt  that  they  were  now  struggling  for  a  last 

hope.     Texas,  with  its  wide  prairies,  was  in- 

The  Union         ^ee(j  theirs,  but  it  now  seemed  possible  that 

in  danger.  '  r 

slavery  would  be  shut  out  of  the  Mexican  ces- 
sion, because  even  the  people  of  New  Mexico  did  not  wish 
it.  The  Virginia  Legislature  passed  resolutions  declaring 
that  the  adoption  and  attempted  enforcement  of  the  Wil- 
mot  proviso  would  leave  to  the  people  but  two  courses  :  one, 
of  "  abject  submission  to  aggression  and  outrage  " ;  the  other, 
"  determined  resistance  at  all  hazards  and  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity." All  over  the  South  these  sentiments  were  ap- 
plauded. The  Union  seemed  to  be  in  danger,  for  the  South 
was  exasperated  and  utterly  in  earnest.  "  All  now  is  up- 
roar," wrote  Clay,  "  confusion,  and  menace  to  the  existence 
of  the  Union  and  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of  the  people." 
To  the  task  of  quieting  the  storm  and  of  saving  the 
Union,  Clay  now  applied  himself.  He  hoped  that  each  sec- 
~    ,  tion  might  be  brought  to  yield  a  portion  of  its 

mise  measures,  claims  and  that  peace  could  be  secured  by  com- 
1850.  promise.     No  one  was  better  fitted  for  the  task 

than  he.  He  was  a  slave  owner,  but  he  had  no  great  love 
for  slavery.     He  knew  Southern  life  and  passions,  but  he 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  TAYLOR— 1849-1850.  379 

knew  Northern  life  and  prejudices  quite  as  well.  His  popu- 
larity was  great,  for  his  sympathies  were  wide  and  deep, 
and  for  forty  years  he  had  stood  before  the  people  as  a 
faithful  representative  of  American  ideas.  He  introduced 
into  the  Senate,  in  January,  a  series  of  resolutions  dealing 
with  the  subjects  of  controversy.  He  proposed,  among  other 
things,  (1)  to  admit  California  ;  (2)  to  establish  Territories 
without  saying  anything  about  slavery ;  (3)  to  pass  a  fugi- 
tive slave  law;  (4)  to  pay  Texas  to  give  up  her  claim  in 
New  Mexico ;  (5)  to  declare  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  abol- 
ish slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  (6)  to  abolish 
the  slave  trade  there. 

These   resolutions  were  the  subjects  of  discussion  for 

months.     All  through  the  summer  of  1850  North  and  South 

anxiously  watched  the  movements  of  Congress. 

Great  debates.      The  Senate  wag  the  chief  arena  of  debate<   Great 

speeches  were  made  by  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  Seward, 
and  others.  Webster  greatly  disappointed  thousands  of  his 
w  .      ,  Northern  admirers  by  supporting  the  compro- 

7th  of  March  mise,  and  declaring  that  slavery  need  not  be 
speech.  excluded  by  law  from  the  new  Western  Terri- 

tories, because  it  was  excluded  by  a  law  superior  to  legisla- 
tive enactment :  "  I  mean  the  law  of  Nature,  of  physical 
geography,  the  law  of  the  formation  of  the  earth."  He  de- 
clared that  antislavery  agitation  was  useless  and  danger- 
ous, and  he  even  censured  the  North  for  harboring  runaway 
slaves.  It  was  believed  by  many  that  he  spoke  these  words 
in  hope  of  securing  the  presidency.  If  he  did,  he  was 
sadly  mistaken,  for  from  that  time,  although  Northern  con- 
fidence seemed  temporarily  to  be  given  him  again,  his  great 
power  of  leadership  was  gone. 

Calhoun  was  at  the  point  of  death  and  unable  to  deliver 
the  speech  he  had  prepared.  It  was  therefore  read  for  him. 
If  one  wishes  to  know  the  feeling  of  the  South  that  finally 
led  to  secession  and  civil  war,  one  should  study  this  speech. 
To  Calhoun  the  nation  seemed  clearly  divided  into  two 


380 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Calhoun's 
position, 


distinct  sections;  if  the  Northern  one  insisted  on  over- 
turning the  balance  between  the  two,  the  interests  of  the 
South  would  be  endangered  and  slavery  would 
not  be  safe  ;  the  only  way  in  which  the  Union 
could  be  preserved  was  by  carefully  maintaining 
this  balance  and  by  the  complete  recognition  of  sectional 
differences  and  interests.  To  the  Western  Territories  the 
Southerner  must  be  allowed  to  go  with  his  slaves  as  freely 
as  the  Northern  man  with  his  cattle ;  slavery  must  not  be 

discriminated  against,  but 
protected  by  the  power  of  the 
National  Government. 

Seward  made  the  greatest 
speech  of  these  debates,  be- 
cause he  fully  represented 
the  best  Northern  sentiment 
concerning  slavery;  because 
he  represented  the  sentiment 
that  was  to  become  the  dom- 
inant power  in  the  nation. 
He  declared  that  slavery  must 
go  no  further.  He  warned 
the  South  that  every  effort  to 
extend  slavery  or  to  fasten 
its  hold  upon  the  country 
would  only  hasten  the  day 
of  emancipation,  because  this 
land  must  be  free,  and  the  forces  of  economy,  the  forces  of 
civilization,  were  fighting  the  battles  of  freedom.  "  The 
question  of  dissolving  the  Union  is  a  complex  question  :  it 
embraces  the  fearful  issue  whether  the  Union 
Seward's  shall    stand,   and   slavery,   under   the    steady, 

peaceful  action  of  moral,  social,  and  political 
causes,  be  removed  by  gradual  voluntary  effort  and  with 
compensation  ;  or  whether  the  Union  shall  be  dissolved  and 
civil  war  ensue,  bringing  on  violent  but  complete  and  im- 


fai<L^-  //2L*^-~c4. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  TAYLOR— 1849-1850.  381 

mediate  emancipation."  *  How  much  misery  and  woe 
might  have  been  avoided  had  the  South  listened  to  Seward's 
warning  in  1850  ! 

Not  till  September  were  all  parts  of  the  compromise 

passed.     It  agreed  substantially  with  Clay's  scheme.     (1) 

The  boundary  between  Texas  and  New  Mexico 

The  compromise   was  established,  and  Texas  was  paid  ten  mil- 

enacted,  .  .  x 

lion  dollars  for  giving  up  her  claims.  (2)  Cali- 
fornia was  admitted  as  a  free  State.  (3)  New  Mexico  and 
Utah  were  given  Territorial  governments  without  restric- 
tion as  to  slavery.  (4)  A  law  was  passed  to  provide  for  the 
arrest  and  return  of  fugitive  slaves.  (5)  The  slave  trade  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  was  abolished.  On  the  whole,  it 
was  received  favorably  by  both  sections  of  the  country. 
The  people  were  relieved  from  the  high  excitement  under 
which  they  had  been  living  for  two  or  three  years.  Another 
crisis  seemed  passed  in  safety,  and  men  breathed  more 
freely. 

The  part  of  this  compromise  that  was  most  disliked  by 
the  North,  and  that  eventually  caused  greatest  trouble,  was 

the  fugitive  slave  law.  This  was  a  very  severe 
The  fugitive       measure.     A  negro  claimed  as  a  runaway  slave 

gloyQ  law  "  ** 

had  no  right  to  a  trial  by  jury,  could  give  no 
evidence  in  his  own  behalf,  and  was  altogether  without 
chance  of  escape.  The  trial  might  be  before  a  commis- 
sioner instead  of  a  court,  and  it  was  the  commissioner's  duty 
to  hear  and  determine  the  case  of  a  claimant  in  a  summary 
manner.  Whether  the  negro  was  a  person  or  a  thing  was 
decided  with  less  formality  than  in  a  suit  at  common  law 
before  the  Federal  courts  where  over  twenty  dollars  were 

*  Seward  at  this  time  also  said  that  "  there  is  a  higher  law  than  the 
Constitution  which  regulates  our  authority,"  etc.  For  this  "  higher-law 
doctrine  "  he  and  his  followers  were  bitterly  attacked,  on  the  ground 
that  they  sought  to  overthrow  the  Constitution  for  mere  sentiment. 
But  he  spoke  plain  truth  ;  the  Constitution  itself  could  not  resist  the 
moral  forces  of  the  nation. 


382  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

involved.  The  passage  of  this  act  was  in  many  parts  of  the 
North  keenly  resented,  but  time  was  needed  to  disclose  all 
its  awful  meaning.  In  the  course  of  the  next  few  years 
Northern  sentiment  against  slavery  was  aroused  to  a  new 
pitch  by  efforts  to  enforce  the  law,  for  it  brought  home  be- 
fore the  very  eyes  of  the  people  some  of  the  most  odious 
aspects  of  slavery.  It  helped  to  intensify  hatred  of  the 
whole  barbarous  system,  and  to  bring  about  a  nearer  ap- 
proach to  unity  of  thought  and  feeling.  Throughout  the 
North  were  many  colored  people,  who  had  either  escaped 
from  service  in  years  gone  by  or  been  born  in  freedom; 
they  could  now  be  seized  on  the  mere  presentation  of  an 
affidavit  made  by  an  alleged  owner,  and  they  might  be 
dragged  away  into  bondage  after  a  hasty  trial.  Eiots  and 
rescues  became  not  infrequent,  and  some  of  them  aroused 
the  interest  of  the  whole  country.  This  part  of  the  com- 
promise, therefore,  did  not  allay  ill  feeling,  but  in  the  end 
made  it  more  intense  and  bitter. 

While  the  compromise  was  under  discussion  President 
Taylor  died  (July  9,  1850).  His  death  brought  deep  sor- 
row to  the  nation.  The  people  of  the  North 
Death  of  pa^  ^e  tribute  of  mourning  to  the  honest  sol- 

dier, who  seemed  to  have  forgotten  sectional 
prejudices  in  his  love  of  country.  "I  never  saw,"  wrote 
Seward,  "  public  grief  so  universal  and  so  profound." 

Mr.  Fillmore  immediately  assumed  the  presidency.     He 

was  not  a  great  man,  but  of  good  ability  and  with  some 

experience  in  political  affairs.     His  cast  of  mind 

USlard  led  him  to  be,  on  the  whole,  conservative  and 

Fillmore.  '  ' 

careful.  His  past  showed  that  he  had  anti- 
slavery  convictions,  but  he  threw  his  influence  in  favor  of 
the  compromise  while  it  was  under  discussion,  and  endeav- 
ored to  see  it  fully  carried  out  after  it  was  passed.  The 
Cabinet  was  reorganized.  Webster  became  Secretary  of 
State,  and  to  a  great  extent  directed  the  policy  of  the  ad- 
ministration. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  FILLMORE— 1850-1853.        383 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  excitement  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion the  country  had  been  growing  in  wealth,  in  strength, 
and  in  population.     In  1840  the  census  showed 
Growth  in  about  seventeen  million  people.     In  1850  there 

population.  . 

were  twenty-three  million.  This  increase  was 
due  in  large  part  to  the  great  influx  of  European  immi- 
grants, who  in  this  decade  came  to  America  in  large  num- 
bers. The  Irish  and  Germans  were  especially  numerous. 
Of  the  former  nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  came 
in  a  single  year.  After  the  great  popular  uprisings  in  Eu- 
rope in  1848 — uprisings  in  behalf  of  greater  political  free- 
dom— thousands  moved  to  America  either  to  escape  pun- 
ishment, or,  despairing  of  brighter  days  at  home,  to  seek 
prosperity  in  a  land  whose  institutions  seemed  reasonable 
and  just.  All  of  these  newcomers  found  homes  either  in 
the  Northern  cities  or  on  the  farms  of  the  new  Northwest. 
To  the  South  they  would  not  go,  because  they  came  to  work, 
while  beyond  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  work  was  left  to 
slaves  and  labor  was  considered  degrading.  They  came, 
too,  without  local  or  sectional  prejudices,  and  thus  added  to 
the  nationalizing  forces  and  stimulated  the  national  spirit. 

In  this  decade  of  political   excitement  the  inventive 
spirit  of  America  had  not  slumbered.     Among  the  most 

important  inventions  was  the  rotary  printing 

Inventions.  r      ,         ,  .  ,    ,,  M        .    ..        , 

press,  by  which  the  process  of  printing  became 
amazingly  rapid.  The  result  was  the  cheapening  of  books 
and  newspapers  and  consequent  widening  of  educational 
opportunities.  The  sewing  machine,  too,  was  invented,  and 
the  result  of  this  invention  was  not  simply  to  lessen  the 
drudgery  of  the  household,  but  to  reduce  the  work  on  all 
articles  of  clothing,  and  thus  to  make  them  cheaper  and 
more  attainable  by  the  poor.  About  this  same  time  a 
patent  was  secured  for  the  manufacture  of  rubber  goods. 
The  value  of  the  discovery  was  so  great  that  this  industry 
assumed  large  proportions  at  once.  In  1850  over  three 
million  dollars'  worth  of  rubber  goods  were  made  in  the 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

United  States.  In  trade  and  commerce  the  United  States 
was  now  one  of  the  first  nations  of  the  world.  "  I  can 
never  think  of  America,"  wrote  Leigh  Hunt  at  one  time, 
"  without  seeing  a  gigantic  counter  stretched  all  along  the 
seaboard.', 

The  shipping  interests  had  recently  developed  greatly. 
Steam  vessels  were  taking  the  place  of  the  old  sailing  ves- 
sels on  the   ocean,  as  they  had  already  sup- 
Shipping  planted  the  flatboats  on  the  rivers.    Steamships 

interests.  r  .     * 

now  made  the  passage  across  the  Atlantic  in 
about  ten  days.  The  wealth  of  the  nation  was  increasing 
rapidly  in  spite  of  the  forebodings  of  those  who  feared  slav- 
ery and  its  blighting  influence.  Men  looked  hopefully 
forward  to  an  immense  material  development.  In  this  they 
were  not  mistaken.  The  decade  from  1850  to  1860  was  one 
of  progress.  Before  its  end  America  had  actually  out- 
stripped England  in  the  tonnage  of  its  merchant  marine. 

The  compromise  of  1850  was  quite  generally  acquiesced 
in.     Some  men  continued  to  denounce  it,  but  the  first  two 

Acquiescence  0r  three  yearS  after  its  Passa&e  were  years  of 
in  the  comparative  quiet,  and  the  members  of  both 

compromise.  the  old  parties  vied  with  each  other  in  declar- 
ing their  attachment  to  it.  Occasionally  the  fugitive  slave 
law  was  openly  violated,  or  men  gave  utterance  to  their  feel- 
ings in  ringing  denunciations ;  but  on  the  whole  it  seemed 
to  the  majority  that  it  was  now  only  necessary  to  decry 
"agitation"  and  to  assert  unwavering  obedience  and  re- 
spect for  the  great  compromises. 

In  the  spring  of  1852  Mrs.  Stowe's  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 
was  published.  The  book  holds  a  high  place  in  our  litera- 
ture, not  because  its  language  is  especially  ar- 
Cabin  T°m'8  tistic,  but  because  it  pictures  a  situation  with 
power  and  is  the  frank  utterance  of  impassioned 
belief.  But  it  is  more  than  a  piece  of  literature  in  the  or- 
dinary sense;  it  is  a  great  political  pamphlet.  The  sales 
of  the  book  were  enormous.     In  Europe  and  America  hun- 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  FILLMORE— 1850-1853.        385 

dreds  of  thousands  of  copies  were  sold.  Its  effect  in  awak- 
ening antislavery  feeling  was  great.  Eufus  Choate  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  "  That  book  will  make  two  millions  of 
abolitionists  "  ;  and  Garrison  wrote  to  Mrs.  Stowe,  "  All  the 
defenders  of  slavery  have  left  me  alone  and  are  abusing 

you." 

The  Democratic  party  nominated  Franklin  Pierce,  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  William  E.  King,  of  Alabama,  as  their 

candidates.  The  Whigs  nominated  General 
Thedectionof    winfield   Scott,  of  Virginia,  and  William  A. 

Graham,  of  North  Carolina.  Both  parties  fa- 
vored the  compromise,  and  declared  that  it  was  a  final  settle- 
ment of  the  slavery  question.  The  Free-soilers  nominated 
John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  George  W.  Julian,  of 
Indiana.  They  wittily  characterized  the  old  parties  as  the 
"Whig  and  Democratic  Wings  of  the  great  Compromise 
Party  of  the  Nation."  Their  principles  were  set  forth  in 
the  phrase,  "  Free  soil,  free  speech,  free  labor,  and  free  men." 
The  election  resulted  in  a  victory  for  the  Democrats  so 
complete  that  the  Whigs  were  overwhelmed.  Scott  carried 
only  four  States  and  received  only  forty-two  electoral  votes. 
Though  his  party  had  humbled  itself  and  bowed  down  be- 
fore the  compromise,  and  refused  to  yield  to  its  own 
better  impulses,  it  could  not  win  the  Southern  vote. 

This  was  the  end  of  the  Whig  party.     Four  years  later 
a  few  men  still  clung  to  the  name  and  tried  to  believe  their 

party  was  not  gone,  but  to  no  avail.  It  was 
New  political      gaid  to  have  «  died  of  an  attempt  to  swallow  the 

conditions! 

fugitive  slave  law."  Before  the  next  election, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  slavery  question  assumed  new  forms  and 
took  on  enormous  proportions.  The  Whig  party  had  to  be 
dissolved  that  a  new  party  might  take  its  place,  ready  to 
act  upon  principle  in  opposition  to  slavery  extension.  More- 
over the  old  stalwart  leaders  that  had  controlled  Whig 
counsels  for  a  generation  were  now  passed  away.  Webster 
and  Clay  died  in  1852,  and  the  Northern  men  that  could 


386  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

have  taken  their  places  were  opponents  of  slavery.  In- 
deed, we  now  find  new  men,  and  a  fair  field  for  new  forces. 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Seward,  and  Charles  Sumner  became  the 
giants  of  the  arena,  and  they  were  unrelenting  foes  of  slav^ 
ery.  The  South,  too,  had  men  thoroughly  devoted  to  its 
peculiar  interests,  its  most  able  and  fearless  champion,  after 
the  death  of  Calhoun,  being  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi. 
Though  men  might  blind  their  eyes  to  it,  the  contest  was 
narrowing  down  to  a  contest  between  the  North  and  the 
South.  The  bright,  able  young  men  of  the  North,  the  men 
of  the  next  twenty  years  of  action,  were  prepared  to  cast 
away  old  party  ties  and  vote  for  principle,  while  the  South 
would  support  none  but  men  fully  devoted  to  its  interests. 

References. 

Short  accounts  in  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  161-179; 
Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  387-402;  Gree- 
ley, American  Conflict,  Volume  I,  pp.  198-210;  Burgess,  Middle 
Period,  pp.  340-365;  Von  Hoist,  John  C.  Calhoun,  pp.  310-352. 
Longer  accounts :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  V,  pp.  129-267;  Rhodes, 
History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  pp.  99-384 ;  Schurz,  Henry 
Clay,  pp.  315-414 ;  Lodge,  Daniel  Webster,  Chapters  IX  and  X. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  FRANKLIN  PIERCE— 1853-1857. 

The  new  President  was  not  a  great  statesman.  He  had 
been  a  consistent  Democrat,  but  no  one  could  foresee  what 

his  career  as  President  would  be.  Indeed,  he 
Franklin  ^ad  been  nominated  by  the  Democrats  partly 

because  they  desired  a  colorless  candidate.  He 
was  a  man  of  some  ability,  a  good  lawyer,  and  a  fine  speaker. 
He  had  both  civil  and  military  experience,  having  been  in 
the  House  and  the  Senate,  and  having  served  as  a  brigadier 
general  in  the  Mexican  War.  The  Vice-President,  King, 
never  assumed  the  duties  of  office.  He  died  about  a  month 
after  the  inauguration.     Pierce   made  William  L.  Marcy 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  PIERCE— 1853-1857.  387 

Secretary  of  State,  an  able,  clear-headed  man,  who  per- 
formed his  duties  with  unusual  skill.  Jefferson  Davis,  of 
Mississippi,  became  Secretary  of  War.  The  Cabinet  was  on 
the  whole  a  strong  one. 

Southern  ambition  was  fired  in  these  days  with  the  hope 

of  winning  new  territory  in  the  regions   of  the   South. 

Cuba  and  Central  America,  both  suitable  for 

Expansion  of  t 

American  slavery,  were  alluringly  near,  and  both  might 

territory.  t>e  acquired  by  a  little   effort.     How  widely 

hopes  of  conquests  in  that  direction  were  entertained 
at  the  South  one  can  not  say.  Certain  it  is  that  many 
were  intent  upon  extending  slavery,  and  hoped  to  gain 
strength  for  slavery  by  the  acquisition  of  new  territory. 
But  zeal  for  the  annexation  of  Cuba  was  not  confined  to 
Southern  politicians.  There  was  prevalent  at  the  time  a 
bold  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  "  manifest  destiny,"  a  belief 
that  we  as  a  nation  were  called  upon  to  extend  the  sphere 
of  our  wholesome  influence,  to  gather  in  new  lands  that  we 
might  do  our  great  duty  in  elevating  man.  This  sentiment 
is  well  expressed  in  the  words  of  Edward  Everett,  who  dur- 
ing the  last  few  months  of  Fillmore's  administration  was 
Secretary  of  State  :  "  Every  addition  to  the  territory  of  the 
American  Union  has  given  homes  to  European  destitution 
and  gardens  to  European  want." 

Marcy  himself  seems  to  have  been  anxious  for  the  an- 
nexation of  Cuba.    In  1854,  at  his  suggestion,  the  American 

ministers  to  England,  France,  and  Spain — 
manifesto.  James  Buchanan,  John  Y.  Mason,  Pierre  Soule 

— met  and  consulted  upon  the  prospects  of  ac- 
quiring this  island.  They  drew  up  a  paper  which  has  since 
borne  the  name  of  the  "  Ostend  manifesto,"  from  the  place 
where  the  first  consultations  were  held.  This  is  a  remark- 
able document.  It  declared  that  the  "Union  can  never 
enjoy  repose  nor  possess  reliable  security  as  long  as  Cuba  is 
not  embraced  within  its  boundaries."  It  suggested,  in 
hardly  mistakable  language,  that  the  United  States  would 


388  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

be  justified  in  seizing  the  coveted  spot  if  Spain  refused  to 
sell  it.  "  We  should  be  recreant  to  our  duty,  be  unworthy 
of  our  gallant  forefathers,  and  commit  base  treason  against 
our  posterity,  should  we  permit  Cuba  to  be  Africanized  and 
become  a  second  St.  Domingo,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors 
to  the  white  race,  and  suffer  the  flames  to  extend  to  our  own 
neighboring  shores,  seriously  to  endanger  or  actually  to 
consume  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Union."  The  Government 
did  not  directly  sanction  this  extraordinary  paper.  Marcy 
directly  disapproved  of  it;  but  when  it  was  published  it 
startled  the  world.  Men  at  the  North  wondered  if  our 
nation  was  in  such  a  plight  that  three  of  our  foreign  diplo- 
mats dared  openly  proclaim  that  we  must  seize  an  island, 
lest  its  inhabitants  become  free. 

The  Democrats,  highly  successful  in  the  campaign  of 

1852,  took  office  the  next  year  with  elation  and  confidence. 

They  had  proclaimed  loudly  the  sanctity  of  the 

The  slavery        compromise,  and  men  hoped  and  believed  that 

question  again.      ,  _      \        _ .  _     ,  .        x  , ,  .  ,   ,. 

the  dreadful  slavery  issue  was  a  thing  of  the 
past.  But  hardly  had  the  new  Congress  assumed  its  duties 
when  the  storm  burst  again  with  renewed  fury.  It  was 
proposed  to  form  a  new  Territory  in  the  land  west  of  Iowa 
and  Missouri,  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase.  From  all  of 
this  country  north  of  36°  30'  slavery  was  excluded  by  the 
express  terms  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  The  minds  of 
the  Northern  people  had  long  rested  in  calm  assurance  that 
this  portion  of  the  national  domain  was  destined  for  free- 
dom. It  was  protected  by  a  law  of  over  thirty  years'  stand- 
ing, and  both  of  the  great  parties  had  avowed  their  faith 
and  allegiance  to  it. 

In  January,  1854,  the  Senate  began  the  consideration  of 
a  measure  for  organizing  a  Territory  in  this  region.  Senator 
Dixon,  of  Kentucky,  who  was  filling  the  unexpired  term 
of  Henry  Clay,  offered  an  amendment  repealing  so  much 
of  the  Missouri  compromise  as  restricted  the  extension  of 
slavery.     A  few  days  later,  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  PIERCE— 1853-1857.  389 

from  Illinois,  brought  in  a  new  bill  providing  for  two  Ter- 
ritories, Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  for  the  repeal  of  the 
slavery  restriction  of  the  famous  compromise  on 
The  Kansas-^  ^  groun(j  ^hat  it  was  "  superseded  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  legislation  of  1850."  The  policy  of 
"  non-intervention,"  which  was  said  to  be  the  basis  of  the 
act  of  1850,  was  now  to  be  adopted  a3  a  principle  in  the 
organization  of  the  new  Territories.  It  was  declared  that 
the  intention  of  the  act  was  "  not  to  legislate  slavery  into 
any  Territory  or  State,  nor  exclude  it  therefrom ;  but  to 
leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

The  bill  was  debated  long  and  bitterly.  Chase,  Seward, 
and  Sumner  made  great  speeches,  attacking  slavery  and 
charging  the  South  with  breach  of  faith. 
Douglas  defended  the  measure  with  his  usual 
skill  and  vigor.  He  was  powerful  in  debate.  His  language 
was  not  elegant  and  his  manner  was  coarse,  but  he  spoke 
with  such  vehemence,  with  such  consummate  shrewdness  and 
adroitness,  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  debaters  that  ever 
spoke  in  Congress.  He  declared  that  the  compromise  of 
1850  contained  a  principle  ;  that  the  principle  was  wise  and 
constitutionally  sound ;  that  in  order  to  quiet  the  slavery 
agitation  forever  this  principle  should  be  applied  to  all  of 
the  Territories. 

It  is  not  perfectly  clear  that  the  "non-intervention" 

policy  of  1850  was  the  same  as  the  doctrine  of  "popular 

sovereignty,"  nor  was  it  made  absolutely  evi- 

Sme^?116  dent  tnat  under  tnis  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  pur- 
porting to  be  based  on  the  principle  of  1850, 
the  people  of  the  Territories  themselves  could,  after  organi- 
zation, either  admit  or  exclude  slavery  as  they  chose.  But 
Cass  and  Douglas,  and  other  Northern  Democrats  that  voted 
for  the  bill,  seem  to  have  believed  that  it  recognized  "  popu- 
lar sovereignty  " ;  and  if  it  did,  then  the  people  of  the  new 


390 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Territories  could  settle  the  matter  for  themselves.  The 
Southern  people  later  denied  that  either  the  compromise  of 
1850  or  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  meant  anything  but  this 
— that  they  should  be  allowed  to  go  into  the  Territories 
with  their  slaves  without  "  intervention  "  from  anybody, 
either  from  the  Territory  or  the  National  Government. 


The  bill  was  passed  by  Congress  in  May,  1854.  The 
people  of  the  North  were  roused  to  intense  excitement  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  this  discussion.  As 
Effect  of  the  jong  ag  siaverv  was  m0re  or  less  limited  by  the 
compromise  restriction  and  there  existed  a  sort 
of  balance  between  the  sections,  which  men  persuaded  them- 
selves was  the  natural  and  constitutional  condition,  there 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  PIERCE-1853-1857.  391 

was  something  like  quiet  and  composure ;  but  now,  as  they 
saw  these  old  restrictions  cast  aside  and  the  prairies  of  the 
great  West  opened  to  slave  labor  on  an  equal  footing  with 
free,  there  was  deep  indignation  in  the  hearts  of  many  who 
had  hitherto  belonged  to  the  conservative  classes  and  had 
deprecated  agitation  and  excitement.  Congressmen  that 
voted  for  the  measure  had  difficulty  in  justifying  them- 
selves before  their  constituents.  Douglas  was  for  the  time 
being  bitterly  denounced.  "  I  could  then  travel,"  he  said 
at  a  later  day,  "  from  Boston  to  Chicago  by  the  light  of  my 
own  effigies."  Some  ardent  foes  of  slavery  were  indeed 
elated ;  they  felt  that  now  the  real  contest  was  begun ;  they 
felt,  too,  that  the  bad  faith  of  the  slaveholders  was  so  clearly 
shown  that  no  further  compromise  of  principle  was  possible. 
"  This  seems  to  me,"  exclaimed  Seward,  "  auspicious  of  bet- 
ter days  and  better  and  wiser  legislation.  Through  all  the 
darkness  and  gloom  of  the  present  hour  bright  stars  are 
breaking,  that  inspire  me  with  hope  and  excite  me  to  per- 
severance." 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  party  out- 
spoken in  its  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
Territories.     Early  in  the  winter,  when  Doug- 
Tile  Kepublican   lag  introduced  his  bill,  an  address  signed  by 

party.  '  °  J 

Chase,  Sumner,  and  other  antislavery  leaders, 
was  published  in  the  newspapers,  denouncing  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  as  "  a  gross  violation  of  a  sacred  pledge,  as  a 
criminal  betrayal  of  precious  rights,  as  part  and  parcel  of 
an  atrocious  plot  to  exclude  from  a  vast  region  immigrants 
from  the  Old  World  and  free  laborers  from  our  own  States, 
and  convert  it  into  a  dreary  region  of  despotism  inhabited 
by  masters  and  slaves."  These  words  expressed  the  senti- 
ment of  many  Northern  people.  The  Free-soilers  were 
still  in  existence,  but  the  party  had  never  been  a  popular 
one.  All  the  antislavery  elements  were  now  fused  into 
a  new  party.  The  movement  was  felt  everywhere  in  the 
North,  but  the  first  active  steps  toward  organization  were 


392  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

taken  in  the  Northwest,  where  the  people  were  not  bound 
by  commercial  ties  to  the  South,  and  where,  less  conserva- 
tive by  nature  than  the  men  of  the  East,  they  were  readier 
to  cast  aside  old  party  bonds  and  take  on  new  ones.  In 
Michigan  a  State  convention  was  called  of  those,  "  without 
reference  to  former  political  associations,  who  think  the 
time  has  arrived  for  union  at  the  North  to  protect  liberty 
from  being  overthrown  and  downtrodden."  This  conven- 
tion nominated  a  full  State  ticket,  and  chris- 
tened the  new  party  "  Republican."  Like  ac- 
tion was  taken  in  several  other  States,  but  the  new  name 
was  not  adopted  in  all  of  them.  The  principles  of  the  party 
were  unmistakable ;  its  chief  aim  was  "  resistance  to  the  en- 
croachment of  slavery." 

The  elements  that  were  brought  into  the  new  party  were 

various.     It  absorbed  all  the  Free-soilers,  many  of  whom 

had  been  Democrats;  it  took  in  also  a  great 

its  character      numDer  of  the  Whigs —  those  who,  realizing 

and  success.  °  '  ° 

that  their  party  had  nothing  left  to  it  but  a 

name  and  a  remembrance,  were  ready  to  co-operate  boldly 
against  slavery.  The  so-called  anti-Nebraska  Democrats 
also  joined  the  Republicans.  Thus  the  party  was  a  com- 
posite one,  but  it  was  guided  by  a  very  definite  purpose. 
Its  tendencies  were  toward  a  broad  and  liberal  construction 
of  the  Constitution,  and  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  State 
sovereignty.  The  success  of  the  movement  was  surprising. 
In  the  fall  election  of  1854  the  opponents  of  "  Nebraska  " 
carried  every  State  of  the  old  Northwest,  and  their  success 
in  the  East  was  not  slight. 

About  this  time  still  another  party  arose,  and  for  a  time 
assumed  large  proportions.     This  was  the  "  Native-Ameri- 
can "  or    "  Know-Nothing "  party.      It  was  a 
£he    -RT  ..u        secret  organization,  devoted  primarily  to  the 

Know-Nothings.  .      e  .  '  -f  J 

exclusion  01  ioreign-born  citizens,  and  espe- 
cially Roman  Catholics,  from  the  suffrage,  or  at  least  from 
public  office.     It  took  its  popular  name  from  the  fact  that, 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  PIERCE— 1853-1857.  393 

if  any  of  its  members  were  questioned  concerning  its  object 
and  methods,  their  answer  was  "  I  don't  know."  The  great 
influx  of  immigrants  had  startled  many  people.  They  be- 
lieved that  the  presence  of  so  many  foreigners  was  a  menace 
to  our  institutions.  Some  men  were  persuaded  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  was  secretly  plotting  for  political 
influence.  The  watchword  of  the  new  party  was  "  America 
for  Americans."  Probably  its  members  were  honestly  de- 
luded by  the  belief  that  it  had  a  duty  to  perform ;  but  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  many  joined  the  organization 
because  they  longed  for  another  issue  than  the  dreadful 
slavery  question.  For  a  year  or  two  the  new  party  was  so 
strong  that  it  ran  a  not  uneven  race  with  the  Eepublicans. 
But  after  1856  its  power  dwindled  rapidly.  It  could  have 
no  lasting  vigor.  Its  secret  methods  were  out  of  place  in  a 
free  country,  where,  as  it  was  well  said,  "  every  man  ought 
to  have  his  principles  written  on  his  forehead." 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  had  other  con- 
sequences than  the  formation  of  the  Eepublican  party.* 
P   ul  r  Popular    sovereignty,   reduced    to    its    lowest 

sovereignty  in  terms,  meant  but  this  :  a  contest  of  strength 
practice.  between  North  and  South,  between  slavery  and 

freedom.  That  section  must  win  that  had  the  greater  vigor. 
If  the  North  could  pour  more  men  into  the  Territories  than 
the  South  could,  their  destiny  was  secure.  Both  sections 
now  prepared  for  the  struggle.  Emigrants  from  the  South- 
ern States  made  their  way  into  Kansas,  and  the  people  of 
the  neighboring  State  of  Missouri  were  ready  to  move  across 

*  One  should  notice  through  these  years  some  of  the  more  striking 
efforts  to  rescue  slaves  taken  at  the  North  under  the  fugitive  slave  law. 
Read  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1897,  the  thrilling  account  given 
by  Mr.  Iligginson  of  the  attempt  to  rescue  Burns.  The  situation  was 
dramatic.  A  descendant  of  the  first  minister  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and 
a  negro,  side  by  side,  battered  with  a  beam  the  door  behind  which  the 
fugitive  slave  was  imprisoned.  When  such  a  scene  could  be  enacted, 
open  conflict  could  not  be  long  postponed. 


394  TTISTORY  OF  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  border,  if  only  temporarily,  in  order  to  carry  an  election. 
From  the  North,  too,  came  men  by  the  thousand,  many  of 
them  to  seek  new  homes,  many  of  them  in  search  of  excite- 
ment, or  bent  on  holding  Kansas  against  the  inrushing  tide 
of  slavery.  In  this  great  contest  the  free  States  had  the 
advantage.  Their  population  was  now  considerably  larger 
than  that  of  the  slave  States,  and  was  yearly  increased  by 
immigrants  from  Europe.  Moreover,  the  Southern  slave 
owner  could  not  at  a  moment's  warning  abandon  his  planta- 
tion and  transport  his  band  of  retainers  to  the  West ;  and 
even  if  he  wished  to  do  so,  he  hesitated  to  move  to  a  Terri- 
tory where  there  was  a  chance  of  losing  his  property  in  his 
slaves.  But  above  all,  the  North  was  now  in  every  way  the 
more  powerful  section.  Slavery  had  cast  its  blight  upon 
the  South.  In  this  struggle  for  Kansas,  the  greater  conflict 
between  the  two  sections  that  was  to  arise  within  a  few 
years  was  fairly  shown  forth.  The  South  was  defeated  be- 
cause it  was  weak ;  because  its  ruling  institution  did  not 
endow  it  with  actual  vigor ;  because  it  could  not  maintain 
itself  against  the  superior  wealth  and  power  of  the  free 
States. 

At  first  the  proslavery  element  was  successful  in  Kansas. 
In  the  autumn  of  1854  they  elected  a  delegate  to  Congress, 

and  the  next  spring  elected  a  Legislature  fa- 
The  struggle       vorable  to  slavery.    The  Free-State  men  charged 

that  the  election  was  carried  by  fraud  and  in- 
timidation ;  that  residents  of  Missouri  had  swarmed  over  the 
border  only  to  vote,  returning  at  once  to  their  own  State. 
The  Legislature  thus  elected  took  steps  to  make  Kansas  a 
slave  Territory,  and  passed  a  severe  code  of  laws  for  the 
protection  of  slavery.  This  government  was  not  recognized 
as  legitimate  by  its  opponents,  and  the  Northern  men  pro- 
ceeded to  ignore  it.  They  met  in  convention  at  Topeka 
and  formed  a  State  Constitution,  under  which  they  sought 
admittance  to  the  Union.  They  even  elected  officers  under 
this  instrument.     There  were  thus  two  authorities  in  the 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  PIERCE— 1853-1857.  395 

Territory,  one  a  proslavery  government,  the  other  an  anti- 
slavery  government  pretending  to  have  power  under  a  State 
Constitution.  The  National  Government  refused  to  recog- 
nize this  Constitution  or  the  officers  acting  under  it,  and 
the  President  ordered  the  Federal  troops  to  dismiss  the 
Free-State  Legislature  when  it  assembled. 

For  about  two  years  the  history  of  Kansas  was  a  history 

of  violence  and  disorder.     Civil  war  broke  out.     Men  were 

shot ;  towns  were  sacked.    The  whole  Territory 

Bleeding  wag  jn  a  state  0f  anarchy.     Robbery  and  deeds 

Kansas.  ,  .  . 

of  brutality  were  constant.      "Which  faction 

surpassed  the  other  in  violence  it  would  be  hard  to  say."  * 

Men  from  the  North  and  men  from  the  South  seemed  to 

lose  all  sense  of  their  common  humanity.     It  was  estimated 

that  from  November  1,  1855,  to  December  1,  1856,  about 

two  hundred  persqns  were  killed,  and  property  worth  not 

less   than  two  million  dollars  destroyed  in  the  Territory. 

"  Bleeding  Kansas  "  became  a  watchword  at  the  North  ; 

and  indeed  this  awful  condition  was  a  sad  commentary  on 

the  policy  of  "  popular  sovereignty." 

The  Kansas  question  was  of  course  hotly  discussed  in 

Congress.     In  these  trying  times  men  forgot  the  decorum 

of  debate  and  talked  with  savage  earnestness. 

8umOTnp011  In  May'  1856'  0harles  Sumner  made  his  great 
speech  on  the  Crime  against  Kansas.  He  was 
a  powerful  and  polished  orator ;  and  now  his  soul  was 
lifted  up  within  him,  for  he  hated  slavery  with  a  deadly 
hatred.  His  speech  was  a  furious  attack  upon'  the  slave- 
holders, and  was,  beyond  question,  needlessly  sharp  and 
severe. f     He  spoke  with  special  severity  of  Senator  Butler, 

*  This  quotation  is  from  Spring's  Kansas,  a  very  interesting  book. 
Chapters  vi-x  give  a  vivid  picture  of  the  horrors  of  the  time. 

f  It  is  not  meant  that  the  attack  on  slavery  was  too  severe,  but  the 
attack  on  the  slaveholders  was.  The  great  Lincoln  always  spoke  of 
the  Southern  man  with  compassion,  while  he  spoke  of  slavery  with 
loathing  and  sorrow. 


396 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


of  South  Carolina.  Preston  S.  Brooks,  a  representative 
from  that  State  and  a  kinsman  of  the  Senator,  determined 
to  take  revenge.  A  day  or  two  later,  after  the  Senate  had 
adjourned,  Brooks  entered  the  Senate  Chamber  and  found 

Sumner  busy  at  his  desk,  his 
head  bent  low  over  his  work. 
He  made  the  most  of  his  op- 
portunity, striking  Sumner 
over  the  head  with  a  walking 
stick  and  so  seriously  injuring 
him  that  he  did  not  fully  re- 
cover for  a  number  of  years. 
The  House  did  not  expel 
Brooks  because  the  needed 
two-thirds  vote  could  not  be 
secured.  .  Brooks,  however, 
resigned  his  seat,  and  was  re- 
elected at  once  almost  unani- 
mously. The  North  was 
mightily  stirred  by  this  at- 
tack. Even  those  who  did  not  sympathize  with  Sumner 
were  indignant  at  the  brutality  of  the  assault.  Perhaps 
nothing  that  occurred  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  did 
more  to  estrange  the  two  sections  and  to  fill  the  hearts  of 
men  with  bitterness.  The  North  felt  that  the  South  was 
given  over  to  ruffianism.  The  South,  on  the  other  hand, 
believed  that  all  Northern  men  were  abolitionists  plotting 
violently  to  overthrow  slavery  ;  many  'seemed  to  believe  that 
Sumner  had  received  his  just  deserts. 

The  campaign  of  1856  was  begun  soon  after  these  ex- 
citing events.     There  were  three  parties  in  the  field.     The 
Democrats    nominated    James    Buchanan,   of 
Pennsylvania,  and   John   C.  Breckenridge,  of 
Kentucky.      Their  platform  approved  of   the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  and  the  principle  of  popular  sover- 
eignty.   It  disapproved  of  "  all  sectional  parties  .  .  .  whose 


cx<^j^  yu4^_ 


The  election 
of  1856. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   PIERCE-1853-1857. 


397 


avowed  purpose,  if  consummated,  must  end  in  civil  war  and 
disunion."  The  Republicans  were  organized  as  a  national 
party  in  the  winter  of  1856,  and  in  the  early  summer 
candidates  were  chosen.  John  C.  Fremont,  of  California, 
was  nominated  for  President,  and  William  L.  Dayton,  of 
New  Jersey,  for  Vice-President.  Resolutions  were  passed 
declaring  that  Congress  had  sovereign  power  over  the  Ter- 
ritories and  should  use  it  to  prohibit  slavery  there,  and  that 
Kansas  should  be  admitted  at  once  under  the  Free-State 
Constitution.     The  Know-Nothings  put  forward  as  candi- 


'  \  j 

r~"-- — ^  Verr|tor 

L\  £*«"o*y\ 

r-A—KAN.   TER.       i    M  O  .  v 


TERR 


'Tory     I 


THE  ELECTION 
OF  1856 

I        1  Republican         \ 

UZJ  Democratic 

I        I  American  Party 


TEXAS 


dates  Millard  Fillmore  and  Andrew  J.  Donelson,  of  Ten- 
nessee. The  campaign  was  carried  on  through  the  summer 
with  great  earnestness  and  with  extraordinary  show  of  feel- 
ing. Buchanan  was  elected,  but  not  by  a  large  electoral 
majority.  The  popular  vote  of  the  Democrats  was  less  than 
that  of  the  Republican  and  American  parties  combined. 
The  Republicans  polled  1,341,204  votes,  about  five  times  as 
many  as  the  Free-soilers  had  ever  cast.  It  was  evident  that 
opposition  to  slavery  had  assumed  a  new  and  formidable 
shape. 


398 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


References. 
Short  accounts:  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  179-193  ; 
Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  404-415 ;  Julian, 
Political  Recollections,  pp.  114-157;  Moore,  The  American  Con- 
gress, pp.  350-370;  Dawes,  Charles  Sumner,  pp.  86-121;  Merriam, 
Life  and  Times  of  Samuel  Bowles,  Volume  I,  pp.  110-161.  Longer 
accounts  :  Schouler,  History,  Volume  V,  pp.  272-371;  Rhodes, 
History,  Volume  I,  pp.  384-500,  Volume  II,  pp.  1-246;  Burgess, 
The  Middle  Period,  pp.  365-449. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JAMES  BUCHANAN,   1857-1861. 

James  Buchanan  had  held  a  number  of  important  posi- 
tions before  he  became  President.  He  had  been  a  member 
of  both  houses  of  Congress,  Secretary  of  State, 
Buchanan's  life  an(j  minister  to  England.  He  had  performed 
all  his  public  duties  acceptably,  but  had  never 
shown  remarkable  brilliancy  or  talent.  He  was  decorous 
and  gentlemanly  in  manner,  cautious  in  all  political  con- 
duct, devoted  to  the  interests 
of  his  party.  He  had  long 
been  a  leader  in  the  party,  but 
was  not  so  able  as  some  of  its 
more  positive  members.  He 
announced  privately  after  his 
election  that  the  great  object 
of  his  administration  would 
be  "  to  arrest,  if  possible,  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion at  the  North,  and  to  de- 
stroy sectional  parties."  Such 
a  task  was  too  great  for  human 
power.  The  chief  positions  in 
his  Cabinet  were  given  to 
Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan,  Sec- 
retary of  State ;  Howell  Cobb, 
of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John  B.  Floyd,  of 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   BUCHANAN— 1857-18G1.        399 

Virginia,  Secretary  of  War ;  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Attorney-General. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  inauguration  the  Supreme 

Court  gave  a  decision  in  an  important  case.     Several  years 

before,   Dred   Scott,  a  negro  slave,  had   been 

The    Dred         taken  by  his  master  into  a  free  State,  and  also 

Scott  case."  J  1 

into  a  part  of  the  national  domain  where  slav- 
ery was  forbidden  by  the  terms  of  the  Missouri  compromise, 
lie  had  then  been  taken  back  to  Missouri,  and  after  a  time 
was  sold.  Scott  brought  suit  against  his  master  for  assault 
and  battery,  claiming  that  by  going  into  free  territory  he 
had  become  a  free  man.  The  suit  was  taken  from  the  lower 
courts  to  the  highest  Federal  tribunal.  The  Supreme 
Court  denied  that  Scott  had  become  a  free  man,  asserted 
that  persons  of  African  descent  could  not  become  citizens 
and  thus  obtain  the  right  to  sue  in  the  Federal  courts,  and 
declared  that  the  Missouri  compromise  was  unconstitutional, 
inasmuch  as  Congress  had  no  authority  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  Territories.  The  decision  of  the  court  was  not 
unanimous ;  two  of  the  nine  judges  strongly  disagreed  with 
it,  and  two  others  did  not  acquiesce  in  all  its  parts.  We 
may  notice  that  if  Scott,  being  a  negro,  could  not  as  a  citi- 
zen sue  in  the  courts,  the  court  should  have  dismissed  the 
case  for  want  of  jurisdiction,  without  proceeding  to  give  a 
long  opinion  on  all  the  merits  and  difficulties  of  the  con- 
troversy. The  judges  doubtless  thought  that  a  legal 
decision  would  have  some  effect  in  bringing  peace  to  the 
country. 

The  decision  seemed  at  first  to  be  a  great  victory  for 
slavery  and  to  strike  a  heavy  blow  at  the  Eepublicans.  The 
Th  tft  a  f  fundamental  Republican  principle  was  that 
the  Repnhlicans  Congress  could  and  must  exclude  slavery  from 
towara  the  case.  national  territory.  If  the  decision  of  the  court 
were  to  stand  as  good  law,  the  Eepublicans  must  give  up 
their  fight  for  congressional  action.  If  they  ignored  it, 
they  posed  before  the  country  as  advocating  disobedience 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

to  the  decision  of  the  highest  court  in  the  land.  The  situ- 
ation was  a  trying  one.  It  was  too  late,  however,  for  an 
"  opinion  "  to  settle  the  slavery  question.  The  Republican 
party  continued  to  work  against  the  extension  of  slavery ; 
they  attacked  the  decision  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  a 
judicial  opinion,  declaring  that  the  court  had  gone  out  of 
its  way  to  issue  a  political  manifesto.  In  the  long  run  the 
decision  helped  the  antislavery  cause,  for  it  brought  home 
to  men  the  need  of  resolute  action. 

All  through  these  years  the  fugitive  slave  law  was  caus- 
ing occasional  excitement  at  the  North.  Some  of  the  States 
already  had  "  personal  liberty  laws,"  the  pur- 
MbSt^laws  Pose  °^  wnicn  was  to  prevent  free  negroes  from 
being  carried  into  slavery  on  the  plea  that  they 
were  runaways,  and  to  put  difficulties  in  the  way  of  en- 
forcing the  fugitive  slave  law.  Moreover,  a  great  system 
known  as  the  "  underground  railroad "  had 
underground  grown  up.  Its  object  was  to  aid  escaped 
railroad.  slaves   to   pass   safely  through   the   Northern 

States  on  their  way  to  freedom  in  Canada.  There  were 
many  routes,  the  majority  leading  across  Indiana  or  Ohio 
to  Lake  Erie  or  the  Detroit  Eiver.  The  traffic  was  carried 
on  secretly.  The  fugitives  were  sheltered  in  the  homes  of 
sympathetic  persons  and  smuggled  on  from  one  "  station  " 
to  another  as  opportunity  offered.  Many  stood  ready  to 
give  a  helping  hand  to  the  hunted  black  man  and  to  carry 
him  a  little  way  on  his  perilous  journey.  It  is  difficult  to 
tell  how  many  were  thus  enabled  to  make  a  good  escape, 
perhaps  not  more  than  two  thousand  a  year ;  but  the  people 
of  the  South  were  angered  by  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of 
stringent  laws,  their  slaves  eluded  them,  because  Northern 
men  winked  at  breaches  of  the  law  or  openly  sympathized 
with  the  fugitives. 

The  whole  North  was  held  responsible  for  the  doings 
and  words  of  the  abolitionists,  yet  it  needs  to  be  repeated 
here  that  the  North  was  by  no  means  united  on  the  sub- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.       401 

ject  of  slavery.  After  the  Dred  Scott  case  and  the  trials 
of  Kansas,  Northern  men  leaned  more  and  more  toward 
advanced  antislavery  sentiment ;  it  must  be  re- 
sentiment  re-  membered,  however,  that  Garrisonian  abolition- 
garding  slavery.  jsts  were  comparatively  f ew  in  numbers.  They 
believed  in  "  no  union  with  slaveholders,"  thinking  a  disso- 
lution of  the  Union  better  than  a.  recognition  of  the  crime 
of  slavery.  They  did  not  vote,  or  advocate  political  action. 
They  believed  that  if  emancipation  were  to  take  place  it 
must  come  at  once,  because  the  nation  was  stained  and  pol- 
luted with  sin.  The  Republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
opposed  to  the  whole  institution  and  thought  it  wicked 
and  inhuman ;  but  they  believed  in  acting  only  as  far  as 
there  was  constitutional  right  to  act ;  they  believed  in  using 
political  measures,  and  not  simply  in  denouncing  slavery  as 
a  crime.  They  made  no  pretense  of  trying  to  wipe  out 
slavery  within  the  States  where  it  existed.  They  were  bent 
on  keeping  it,  however,  closely  within  those  limits.  It  must 
be  noticed,  too,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  Northern  people 
were  not  ready  to  go  even  thus  far,  still  clinging  fondly 
to  the  hope  that  the  question  would  settle  itself,  and  look- 
ing upon  the  Republican  party  as  a  sectional  party  whose 
aims  were  dangerous  to  the  Union.  In  spite  of  these  differ- 
ences the  Southerners,  or  many  of  them  at  least,  believed 
that  all  Northern  opponents  of  slavery  were  at  heart  desir- 
ous of  overthrowing  slavery  even  within  the  Southern 
States. 

By  this  time  the  -weakness  of  slavery  had  been  shown  in 
the  struggle  for  Kansas.     Early  in  Buchanan's  administra- 
tion it  became  evident  that  the  Free-State  men 

KanstUthl°SeS  must  win  in  the  contest  in  that  Territory. 
Their  numbers  were  constantly  increasing.  "We 
are  losing  Kansas,"  said  a  Southern  paper  truly,  "  because 
we  are  lacking  in  population."  In  1857  the  Free-State  men 
gave  up  the  pretense  that  they  had  formed  a  legal  State 
Government.     They  took  part  in  the  election  of  the  Terri- 


402  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

torial  Legislature,  defeated  the  proslavery  element  at  the 
polls,  and  elected  a  Legislature  in  favor  of  free  soil.  Before 
this  body  took  office  the  old  proslavery  Legislature  called  a 
convention,  which  met  at  Lecompton  and  formed  a  State 
Constitution  recognizing  slavery.     This  instru- 

ConstitS1011     ment  WaS    n0t   fairty  Submitted   t0    the   Pe°ple> 

but  only  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  there 
should  be  slavery  as  a  permanent  institution.  The  people 
were  not  allowed  to  vote  against  the  Constitution,  but  must 
cast  a  ballot  for  the  instrument  with  slavery  or  for  it  with- 
out slavery.  Moreover,  if  the  popular  verdict  should  be 
against  slavery,  the  Constitution  guaranteed  slave  property 
already  in  the  Territory.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
antislavery  men  refused  to  vote,  and  the  ballots  of  the  pro- 
slavery  men  gave  apparent  popular  sanction  to  the  Consti- 
tution. Shortly  after,  the  Free-State  Legislature  submitted 
the  instrument  again  to  popular  vote  and  it  was  rejected. 
The  question  of  the  admission  of  Kansas  under  the  Lecomp- 
ton Constitution  was  now  discussed  in  Congress.  The  Sen- 
ate passed  a  bill  for  its  admittance,  but  the  measure  could 
not  pass  the  House.  By  this  time  (1858)  Kansas  was  fairly 
in  the  power  of  the  Free-State  men ;  but  it  was  impossible 
to  get  a  bill  through  Congress  admitting  the  Territory  to 
Statehood  with  a  Constitution  forbidding  slavery. 

In  1858  occurred  the  great  debates  between  Lincoln  and 
Douglas.  They  were  rival  candidates  for  election  to  the 
mi.  T .     .  United  States  Senate  from  Illinois,  and  agreed 

The  Lincoln-  '        .    .        , . 

Douglas  to  hold  in  various  parts  of  the  State  joint  dis- 

debates.  cussions  upon  the  important  issues  of  the  cam- 

paign. Douglas  was  the  strongest  and  keenest  debater  in 
Congress,  and  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Democratic 
party  at  the  North.  Lincoln  was  not  much  known  beyond 
the  limits  of  his  own  State.  The  whole  nation  watched 
the  contest  with  interest,  and  the  Republicans  were  sur- 
prised and  delighted  at  the  shrewdness  with  which  Lincoln 
exposed  the  fallacies  of  his  opponent,  at  the  quiet  humor 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.       403 

which  added  a  quaint  flavor  to  his  argument,  and  at  the 
plentiful  supply  of  common  sense  which  enabled  him  to 
analyze  the  difficult  problems  of  the  time  and  to  show  their 
simplest  meanings.  Douglas  wras  elected,  but  Lincoln 
clearly  marked  out  the  course  of  his  party  :  unflinching 
opposition  to  slavery,  because  slavery  and  freedom  could  not 
abide  together  ;  no  interference  with  slavery  in  the  South, 
but  steadfast  opposition  to  its  extension,  lest  freedom  itself  be 
overcome ;  a  full  appreciation  that  the  only  basis  for  peace 
was  the  disappearance  of  the  whole  system.  Seward  was 
soon  to  declare  that  there  was  an  "  irrepressible  conflict " 
between  slavery  and  freedom,  and  now  Lincoln  said :  "  In 
my  opinion  it  [agitation]  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall 
have  been  reached  and  passed.     A  house  di- 

aSstSd  vided  against  itself  can  not  stand-  I  believe 
this  Government  can  not  endure  permanently 
half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect 
it  will  cease  to  be  divided." 

In  the  decade  between  1850  and  1860  the  United  States 
was,  on  the  whole,  prosperous  and  progressive.     There  was, 
however,  one  period  of  difficulty  and  distress, 
amc  o         .     jn  1857  there  was  a  financial  crisis  and  a  panic  ; 
for  two  years  and  more  business  was  greatly  depressed. 
Men  were  thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  closing  of  fac- 
tories, furnaces,  and  mines ;   banks   suspended   payment ; 
corporations  of  all  kinds  went   into   bankruptcy.     Misery 
and  suffering  resulted.     Yet  the  country  was,  after  a  time, 
on  its  way  to  prosperity  again.     There  was  a 
Signs  of  great  increase  in  population  in  this  decade. 

prosperity.  °  r   r 

The  census  of  1860  showed  about  thirty-one  mil- 
lion people,  a  gain  of  about  eight  million  in  ten  years.  Immi- 
grants continued  to  pour  into  our  land.  Inventions  multi- 
plied ;  there  were  nearly  four  thousand  patents  issued  in  the 
year  1860  alone.  The  ocean  commerce  was  immense,  and 
our  merchantmen  carried  the  American  flag  to  every  sea. 


404  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Americans  were  proud  of  the  fact  that  they  could  now  dis- 
pute "  the  navigation  of  the  world  with  England,"  and  that 
England  could  "  no  longer  be  styled  mistress  of  the  sea." 
Much  capital  was  now  invested  in  manufacturing.  The  iron 
industry  of  Pennsylvania  had  assumed  large  proportions,  and 
the  cotton  and  woolen  industries  of  the  Eastern  States  had 
grown  greatly  in  recent  years.  America  had  evidently 
passed  far  out  of  the  agricultural  stage.  In  18G0  the  prod- 
ucts of  mechanical  industry  in  the  United  States  were 
worth  almost  two  billion  dollars.  Yet  our  great  export  trade 
was  still  in  agricultural  products.  Nearly  four  and  a  half 
million  bales  of  cotton  were  shipped  from  the  South  in  a 
single  year. 

The  North  had  now  passed  far  ahead  of  the  South  in 
population  and  in  wealth.  When  the  Constitution  was 
ml  _  x,  adopted  the  two  sections  were  not  dissimilar  in 

The  North  out-  r 

strips  the  South  these  particulars.  According  to  the  census  01 
inpopuiatiou  1790j  the  inhabitants  of  the  States  north  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line  were  1,968,040,  and  of  those  south 
of  the  line  1,961,174.  But  in  1860  the  free  States  and  Ter- 
ritories had  a  population  of  21,184,305,  while  the  slave 
States  had  10,259,016,  of  whom  about  one  third  were  slaves. 
This  difference,  yearly  growing  more  marked,  was  due  in 
part  to  the  fact  that  the  European  immigrant  would  not  go 
and  make  his  home  in  a  section  where  labor  was  considered 
the  duty  only  of  bondmen.  Thus  it  came  about  that  the 
South  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  North  in  advance- 
ment. The  struggle  that  had  been  maintained  until  1850 
to  keep  a  balance  of  power  in  the  Senate,  by  admitting 
slave  and  free  States  in  pairs,  had  to  be  abandoned.  Minne- 
sota and  Oregon  were  admitted  to  the  Union  in  Buchanan's 
administration. 

But  in  wealth  and  material  prosperity  the  free  States 
had  gained  in  even  a  greater  degree.  Slave  labor  is  not  fit 
for  the  factory  or  the  workshop,  where  careful,  conscientious 
mechanical  skill  is  required.     Hence  factories  were  few  in 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.       405 


and  in  wealth, 


the  Southern  States.  Almost  everything  had  to  be  obtained 
from  the  North  or  Europe,  in  exchange  for  the  great  sta- 
ples, cotton  and  tobacco.  In  1850  there  were 
1,260,442  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing, 
in  the  arts,  and  in  mining  in  the  North  ;  in  the  South  there 
were  326,000.  The  commonest  necessities  of  life,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  food  that  could  be  raised  on  the  plantation, 
were  imported.  There  was  one  great  crop — cotton — a  crop 
so  large  that  the  South  felt  that  the  product  made  it  rich 
and  gave  it  power.  But  if  the  market  for  this  staple  were 
taken  away,  the  people 
would  be  sure  to  find 
that  they  were  almost 
incapable  of  self-sup- 
port for  more  than  a 
limited  period.  More- 
over, even  in  the  field 
of  work  to  which  slav- 
ery had  driven  the 
South,  in  agriculture 
itself,  methods  were 
wasteful ;  the  soil  was 
not  carefully  or  system- 
atically tilled  ;   it  was, 

on    the    contrary,    SVS-    ^Ap   showing  Western    Extension   of 

,.     ,,  i  .    -,  Population  in  1860. 

tematically   exhausted. 

The  results  are  clearly  shown  by  the  fact  that  Southern 
plantations  were  worth  less  than  ten  dollars  an  acre  in 
1860,  while  Northern  farms  were  worth  about  three  times 
that  amount. 

Slavery  was  more  expensive  than  freedom.  At  first  it 
seems  hardly  possible  that  this  can  be  true,  but  an  examina- 
tion of  the  facts  will  prove  the  statement.  Benjamin 
Franklin  saw  this  a  hundred  years  ago  and  more.  "The 
labor  of  slaves,"  he  says,  "  can  never  be  so  cheap  here  as  the 
labor  of  the  workingman  in  Great  Britain.     Any  one  may 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

compute  it.     Reckon,  then,  interest  of  the  first  purchase  of 
a  slave,  the  insurance  or  risk  on  his  life,  his  clothing  and 

diet,  expenses  in  sickness  and  loss  of  time,  loss 
Slavery  an  ex-     Dy  negiect  of  business  (neglect  which  is  natural 

to  the  man  who  is  not  to  be  benefited  by  his  own 
care  or  diligence),  expense  of  a  driver  to  keep  him  at  work, 
and  his  pilfering  from  time  to  time  (almost  every  slave  being, 
from  the  nature  of  slavery,  a  thief),  and  compare  the  whole 
amount  with  the  wages  of  a  manufacturer  of  iron  or  wool 
in  England  ;  you  will  see  that  labor  is  much  cheaper  there 
than  it  ever  can  be  by  negroes  here."  A  careful  examination 
of  two  farms,  one  tilled  by  slaves  and  one  by  hired  laborers, 
could  prove  to  the  inquirer  that  slave  labor  was  extremely 
expensive.*  Only  men  with  large  capital  could  afford  to  have 
slaves  in  any  number  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  planta- 
tion, because  the  interest  from  the  investment  was  so  small. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  slaves  were  passing  into  the  hands  of 
a  few  persons.  Those  who  could  not  afford  slaves  did  not 
use  their  own  energies  in  toil,  as  the  free  men  of  the  North 
were  doing. 

Thus  slavery  was  impoverishing  the  South.     It  had  dead- 
ened, too,  the  general  intellectual  activity  of  the  people  and 

retarded  their  progress.  The  better  classes, 
It  makes  the       wno  con\^  travel,  import  their  books  and  works 

South  poor.  x 

of  art,  and  keep  in  touch  with  the  world,  were 
cultured  and  charming ;  the  large  planters,  with  their  sense 
of  power  and  responsibility  and  their  wide  range  of  acquaint- 
ances, were,  as  a  rule,  men  of  mental  vigor,  many  of  them 
having  distinct  talents  in  politics  and  statecraft.  But  spite 
of  the  graces  and  talents  of  the  planter  class,  slavery  hung 
like  a  millstone  about  the  neck  of  the  people.  If  we  judge 
by  the  number  of  schools  and  churches  and  newspapers  and 
libraries,  or  by  roads  and  railroads  and  all  means  of  com- 
munication, by  the  hundreds  of  things  which  help  us  to 

*  See  illustration  in  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United  States,  by 
Carroll  D.  Wright,  p.  151. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.        407 

determine  the  status  of  a  community,  we  see  that  the  South 
was  now  hopelessly  backward.  In  every  respect  the  cen- 
sus returns  of  each  decade  showed  that  freedom  was  leav- 
ing slavery  behind.  "  It  was  evident  that  the  slave  States 
were  worse  fitted  at  the  end  of  each  successive  period  for  a 
forcible  struggle  with  the  free  States,  and  that  the  scepter 
was  departing  from  the  South." 

In  all  that  makes  for  education  the  South  was  lament- 
ably poor.  Outside  of  the  houses  of  the  rich  in  the  larger 
cities  or  the  homes  of  the  great  planters  one 
would  find  neither  "  a  book  of  Shakespeare,  nor 
a  pianoforte  or  sheet  of  music,  nor  the  light  of  a  Carcel  or 
other  good  center-table  or  reading  lamp,  nor  an  engraving 
or  copy  of  any  kind  of  a  work  of  art  of  the  slightest  merit."  * 
In  the  North  (1850)  there  were  62,459  schools  and  2,770,381 
pupils,  while  at  the  South  there  were  only  29,041  schools 
attended  by  583,292  pupils.  But  worse  than  all  else,  a  fear 
of  the  introduction  of  noxious  principles  that  would  endan- 
ger slavery  cast  its  shadow  upon  the  whole  school  system, 
for  education  can  not  flourish  in  the  heavy  atmosphere  of 
dread  or  repression.  In  education,  as  in  industry,  slavery 
was  degrading ;  it  acted  like  a  moral  curse,  poisoning  the 
life  blood  of  the  people. 

The  Southern  people  had  for  many  years  declared  that 

the  agitation  ©f  the  slavery  question  was  a  menace  to  their 

safety.     They  had  declared,  too,  that  the  real 

John  Brown's  intent  and  wigh  Qf  fche  aDolitionists  Was  to 
raid. 

arouse  a  slave  insurrection  and  to  bring  woe 
and  devastation  to  the  whole  South.  An  event  now  hap- 
pened that  seemed  to  them  to  prove  them  right  in  all  their 
charges  and  suspicions.  This  was  the  famous  raid  of  John 
Brown  into  Virginia.  Brown  was  a  New  Englander  by 
birth,  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  bloody  struggle 
in  Kansas.     In  fact,  among  "  border  ruffians  "  and  fierce 

*  Olmsted,  The  Cotton  Kingdom,  vol.  ii,  p.  285.    Read  Rhodes,  vol. 

i,  chap.  iv. 

F  27 


408 


IIISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Free-State  men  the  old  Puritan  had  distinguished  himself 
for  fearlessness  and  violence.  Now  that  Kansas  was  se- 
cured, he  hoped  to  strike  a  more  effective  blow  for  freedom. 
His  design  was  to  seize  the  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  free 
the  blacks  in  the  neighborhood,  and  retreat  to  some  strong- 
hold in  the  mountains.  Thence  he  would  make  incursions 
into  the  neighboring  regions,  and  make  his  name  a  terror 
to  the  whole  South.  He  hoped,  indeed,  to  force  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  slaves, 
not  perhaps  by  inciting 
a  general  revolt,  but 
£jKJ§^*S&>-  Jfi.  kv  gathering  them  up 

«^^S      ^?£2Slfeifl  from  time  to  time  and 

by  making  property  in 
slaves  insecure.  It  was 
the  scheme  of  a  mad- 
man. But  Brown  can 
IS  hardly  be  charged  with 
insanity;  some  of  the 
ardent  antislavery  men 
to  whom  he  confided  his  plan  seemed  to  have  had  faith  in 
its  success.  In  the  autumn  of  1859  he  seized  the  national 
arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  began  to  free  the  slaves  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Troops  were  soon  hurried  to  the  spot  and  .the  little  band 
was  overpowered.  Some  of  the  men  were  shot  in  the 
struggle.  Brown  himself,  with  several  others, 
was  captured.  They  were  speedily  brought  to 
trial,  convicted,  and  hanged.  The  whole  country  was 
stirred  by  this  event.  The  South  believed,  as  never  before, 
in  the  wickedness  of  the  North.  The  moderate  people  of 
the  Northern  States  condemned  the  act ;  but,  wild  as  the 
plan  had  been,  the  devotion  of  Brown  to  his  sense  of  duty, 
the  calmness  with  which  he  met  his  fate,  his  readiness  to 
die  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  won  the  attention  even  of  the 
scoffer  and  gave  a  certain  amount  of  dignity  to  abolitionism. 


John  Brown's  Foet. 


Its  failure. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.       409 

For  a  time,  however,  this  act  injured  the  antislavery  cause, 
because  reasonable  men  could  not  sympathize  with  such 
methods  and  purposes. 

In  the  election  of  1860  four  candidates  were  nominated 
for  the  presidency.     Although  there  had  been  differences 

between  the  Northern  and  Southern  wings  of 
Jfh®8ege0ction       the  Democratic  party  up  to  this  time,  they  had 

managed  to  work  together.  This  now  proved 
impossible,  the  Northern  element  refusing  to  accept  South- 
ern principles  with  reference  to  slavery  in .  the  Territories. 
The  Southerners  had  by  this  time  lost  all  patience  with 
popular  sovereignty.  They  utterly  renounced  it  and  em- 
braced the  principle  of  the  Dred  Scott  case,  which  was  in 
reality  the  earlier  principle  of  Calhoun,  and  demanded  that 
Congress  should  protect  slavery  in  the  Territories.  They 
nominated  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  and  Joseph 
Lane,  of  Oregon.  The  Northern  Democrats,  under  the  lead 
of  Douglas,  still  clung  to  popular  sovereignty,  and  at  the 
same  time,  quite  inconsistently,*  declared  their  willingness 
to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  They 
nominated  Douglas  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia. 
The  Republicans  denied  the  "  authority  of  Congress,  of  a 
Territorial  legislature,  or  of  any  individual  to  give  legal 
existence  to  slavery  in  the  Territories  " ;  they  repudiated 
the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  of  the  Dred  Scott 
case  as  well.  Their  nominees  were  Abraham  Lincoln,  of 
Illinois,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine.  A  fourth  party 
nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  and  Edward  Everett, 
of  Massachusetts ;  it  was  called  the  Constitutional  Union 

*  The  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case  declared  that  the 
National  Government  could  not  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories. 
If  that  be  so,  then  a  Territory  could  not  exclude  slavery  either,  for  it  is 
created  and  its  power  bestowed  upon  it  by  the  National  Government. 
The  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  was  just  as  contradictory  of  the 
court's  opinion  as  was  the  Republican  doctrine,  that  it  was  within  the 
power  of  Congress  to  exclude  slavery. 


410  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

party.  It  declared  for  the  "  Constitution  of  the  country, 
the  Union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 
These  broad  terms  and  generous  phrases  could  have  little 
meaning  in  such  a  crisis ;  but  these  men  still  hoped  that 
words  and  resolutions  and  good  purposes  might  quiet  the 
tempest  and  save  the  Union.  Lincoln  was  elected  by  a 
good  electoral  majority  over  all  other  candidates ;  but  the 
Republicans  were  still  a  minority  of  the  people,  for  they 
cast  only  about  eighteen  hundred  thousand  votes,  while  all  of 
their  opponents  cast  about  a  million  more.  The  situation 
was  therefore  essentially  different  from  what  it  would  have 
been,  had  the  party  been  sure  of  anything  like  a  united 
North  behind  it. 

A  number  of  times  the  leading  men  at  the  South  had 
declared  that  the  Southern  States  could  no  longer  remain 
in  the  Union  if  the    Eepublican   party  were 
leads  in  successful.      The  North  had  not  taken  these 

secession.  threats  very  seriously.     They  were  thought  to 

be  but  bluster,  in  which  the  South  was  considered  a  master. 
"  The  old  Mumbo-Jumbo,"  said  James  Eussell  Lowell,  "  is 
occasionally  paraded  at  the  North,  but  however  many  old 
women  may  be  frightened,  the  pulse  of  the  stock  market 
remains  provokingly  calm."  But  in  some  parts  of  the 
South  men  were  desperately  in  earnest,  and  had  no  inten- 
tion of  resting  content  with  words.  South  Carolina  was 
ready  to  take  the  lead  and  put  once  more  into  practice  the 
doctrine  of  her  favorite  son,  Calhoun.  This  time,  however, 
she  intended  not  to  stand  on  her  rights  and  nullify  con- 
gressional action,  as  in  1832,  but  to  withdraw  entirely  from 
the  Union.  December  20,  1860,  a  popular  convention  at 
Charleston  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession.  Its  cardinal 
words  are  as  follows  :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain 
.  .  .  that  the  Union  now  subsisting  between  South  Caro- 
lina and  other  States  under  the  name  of  4  The  United  States 
of  America '  is  hereby  dissolved."     Before  the  end  of  the 


CHARLESTON 

MERCORY 

EXTRA: 


Passed  unanimously  at  1.15  o  clack,  J».  Jtt.y  December 
20//1,  I860. 

Alf  ORDINANCE 

*7b  dissolve  the  Union  between  the  State  of  South  Carolina  and 
other  Slates  united  with  her  under  the  compact  entitled  *'  The 
Constitution  of  the  United  Slate*  oj  America? 

W\  iXe  People  of  He  Slate  of  Souik  Carolina,  in  Convention  auenbkd,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and 
it  i$  htrtbg  declared  and  ordained, 

Tntl  the  Ordinanoe  adopted  by  as  in  Convention,  on  tba  twenty-third  day  of  May,  In  tbo 
year  of  out  Lord  one  thousand  seven  'hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the 
Unite*  States  of  America  was  ratified,  and  also,  all  Acta  and  parts  of  Acta  of  the  Qeneral 
Assembly  of  this  State,  ratifying  amendments  of  the  said  Constitution,  are  horeby  repealed ; 
and  that  the  union  sow  aalelsting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States,  under  the  name  of 
•  The  United  Slates  of  America,"  is  hereby  dissolved 


THE 

UNION 

DISSOLVED! 


412  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

winter  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas  passed  like  ordinances.  Other  Southern  States 
hesitated,  and  for  the  time  being  took  no  decisive  action. 

When  Congress  met  after  the  election,  President  Buch- 
anan sent  in  his  message  (December  3,  1860).     The  whole 
country  read   it  with  great   interest,  for  the 
Buchanan's         stand  which  the  President  would  take  toward 

message. 

secession  was  of  the  utmost  importance. 
Already  South  Carolina  was  preparing  to  carry  out  her 
threats  of  disunion.  Buchanan  denied  that  the  right  of 
secession  was  constitutional,  and  asserted  his  intention  to 
retain  possession  of  the  property  of  the  United  States  in 
the  South  ;  but  he  entered  laboriously  into  a  long  argu- 
ment to  prove  that  there  was  no  legal  right  to  "  coerce  a 
State  "  or  compel  it  to  remain  in  the  Union  against  its  will. 
He  cast  the  blame  for  existing  difficulties  on  the  North, 
because  of  the  violation  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  and  the 
continual  encroachments  upon  Southern  rights.  He  even 
spoke  encouragingly  of  getting  Cuba ;  this  meant,  of  course, 
more  slave  territory.  There  was  nothing  in  the  message 
from  one  end  to  the  other  which  would  be  likely  to  fill  with 
hope  and  courage  those  that  were  longing  for  strength  and 
wisdom  in  high  places,  or  to  make  those  falter  and  hesitate 
who  were  plotting  a  disruption  of  the  Union.* 

*  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  Constitution  does  not  give  a  right  to 
coerce  a  State,  in  so  many  words;  it  provides  for  a  government  that  is 
directly  and  immediately  over  people.  The  citizens  of  South  Carolina 
were  also  citizens  of  the  United  States*  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  was  immediately  over  them,  and  was  just  as  much  their  govern- 
ment as  the  government  at  Columbia  was.  The  Federal  Government 
could  enforce  its  laws  against  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina ;  and  there- 
fore there  was  no  need  to  consider  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  it 
could  coerce  a  State.  In  the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  1787,  James 
Wilson  pointed  out  the  real  situation.  "In  explaining  his  reasons," 
said  Madison  in  his  Journal,  "it  was  necessary  to  observe  the  twofold 
relations  in  which  the  people  would  stand,  first,  as  citizens  of  the  General 
Government,  and,  secondly,  as  citizens  of  their  particular  State.  .  .  . 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 1857-1861.        413 

Buchanan's  position  all  through  this  time  was  a  trying 
one.  In  December  his  Cabinet  began  to  break  up.*  Cass 
„   ,  3     resigned  because  he  thought  the  President  was 

Buchanan  and  °  .    °         .  . 

the  Southern  not  acting  with  sufficient  vigor  to  maintain 
fortB.  Federal  authority.     Black  became  Secretary  of 

State  in  his  place.  Cobb  and  Floyd  resigned  to  take  active 
parts  in  the  movement  for  secession,  and  Thompson,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  soon  followed  them.  Their  places 
were  filled  with  Union  men,  and  so  before  the  middle  of 
the  winter  Buchanan  had  a  loyal  Cabinet.  When  the 
Southern  States  passed  the  ordinances  of  secession  they 
took  possession  of  the  Federal  forts  and  other  property 
within  their  limits.  Their  theory  was  that  the  land  be- 
longed to  them,  but  they  professed  willingness  to  pay  for 
the  improvements.  With  the  exception  of  four  forts  on 
the  Gulf  and  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor,  these  posi- 
tions passed  into  the  hands  of  the  secessionists  without 
trouble.  The  position  at  Charleston  was  of  special  interest 
and  importance.  Fort  Sumter  was  held  by  a  small  force 
under  Major  Anderson.  He  determined  to  hold  his  position 
until  ordered  by  the  National  Government  to  retire.  Buch- 
anan refused  to  give  up  the  place  to  the  South  Carolina 
authorities.  Early  in  January  an  attempt  was  made  to 
send  relief  to  the  little  garrison,  whose  stronghold  was  now 
menaced  by  the  batteries  that  had  been  thrown  up  to  com- 
mand it  and  the  approaches  to  it.  A  small  steamer,  the 
Star  of  the  West,  was  dispatched  with  this  assistance.  The 
batteries  opened  fire  on  her,  and  she  gave  up  the  attempt  to 
relieve  Sumter.  This  happened  early  in  January,  and  for 
three  months  and  more  Anderson  and  his  brave  little  force 
continued  to  hold  the  fort  for  the  Union  at  the  very  gates 
of  the  proud  State  that  was  leading  the  movement  for 
secession. 

Both  governments  were  derived  from  the  people,  both  meant  for  the 
people ;  both,  therefore,  ought  to  be  regulated  by  the  same  principles." 
*  Read  Rhodes,  History,  vol.  iii,  p.  187. 


414  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

The  session  of  Congress  in  the  winter  of  18G1  was  a 

gloomy  one,  largely  taken  up  with  discussions  of  compromise 

and  concession,   for  men   still  hoped  against 

Efforts  at  h  thftt   the    TJnion   coulfl   fa   saved  without 

compromise.  * 

war.  The  proposals  of  Senator  Crittenden,  of 
Kentucky,  were  long  considered  in  the  Senate,  and  many 
persons  thought  that  a  compromise  could  be  reached  on  the 
basis  he  advocated.  He  proposed  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution, one  of  them  providing  that  the  line  30°  30'  should 
be  run  through  to  the  Pacific  to  separate  slave  territory  from 
free.  But  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Senate  to  consider 
these  proposals  could  come  to  no  agreement.  The  Kepub- 
lican  members  of  the  committee  voted  against  the  propo- 
sition, and  without  substantial  agreement  in  the  com- 
mittee there  could  be  no  chance  for  the  amendments  before 
Congress  or  the  people.  So  this  device  failed.  The  House 
had  no  better  success  in  agreeing  upon  a  compromise  than 
had  the  Senate.  At  the  suggestion  of  Virginia,  a  "  peace 
convention  "  was  held  at  Washington  in  midwinter.  Dele- 
gates were  present  from  twenty-one  States,  but  the  assembly 
accomplished  nothing.  Some  of  the  Northern  people  were 
now  timorous  and  fearful,  and  longed  for  concession  and 
settlement  on  almost  any  basis.  Others  seemed  to  see  that 
they  could  not  give  up  the  fair  results  of  the  election  and 
call  their  action  compromise,*  for  the  Eepublican  party 
was  pledged  to  oppose  the  spread  of  slavery  anywhere, 
either  north  or  south  of  36°  30'. 

In  February  delegates  from  six  Southern  States  f  met  at 
Montgomery,  Ala.      They  organized  a  confederacy  called 

*  Lincoln  let  his  opinion  be  known  to  a  few  of  the  influential  men. 
He  objected  to  dividing  the  Territories  by  a  geographic  line.  "  Let  this 
be  done,"  he  said,  "  and  immediately  filibustering  and  extending  slavery 
recommences." 

f  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  Mis- 
sissippi. Texas  delegates  were  appointed  a  little  later  than  the  first 
meeting  of  this  convention. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BUCHANAN— 18.57-1861.       415 


the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  constitution 
agreed  upon  was  in  most  respects  similar  to  that  of  the 
Th  c  nf  d  r  t  United  States.  They  elected  Jefferson  Davis 
states  of  President,    and    Alexander    H.   Stephens,    of 

America,  Georgia,  Vice-President. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  here  at  length  the  arguments 
used  in  favor  of  the  right  of  secession.  John  C.  Calhoun, 
thirty  years  before,  had  clearly  outlined  them,  and  in  con- 
sidering his  statements  in  regard 
to  State  sovereignty  and  nullifi- 
cation we  have  seen  briefly  what 
might  be  said  in  favor  of  the 
right  of  a  State  to   secede.     It 

must  be  remembered 
The  Southern  th  t  th  Sout]ierners 
argument. 

believed  that  they 
were  acting  strictly  within  their 
legal  rights ;  that  each  State  had 
entered  into  a  compact  or  agree- 
ment with  other  States,  and  that 
when  that  agreement  was  violated 
or  the  interests  of  a  State  no 
longer  subserved  by  the  Union,  it  was  at  liberty  to  withdraw. 
They  had  been  for  some  years  saturated  with  Calhoun's  doc- 
trines, and  the  peculiar  character  of  slavery  had  put  them 
in  a  defensive  attitude.  Hence  they  had  come  to  consider 
the  State  as  the  chief  guardian  of  their  interests,  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  feeling  of  national  patriotism  was  grow- 
ing daily  at  the  North.  The  North  felt  more  surely,  year 
by  year,  the  fact  that  the  American  people  were  a  nation, 
and  that  the  great  republic  must  not  be  torn  asunder. 
But  slavery  made  the  Southern  people  feel  that  they  were 
different  from  the  North,  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  in- 
deed ;  that  they  had  their  own  separate  institutions  and 
must  defend  them. 

The  North  held  that  secession  was  neither  more  nor  less 


(^-~^e^^t^L<TL^^a^^/ 


416  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

than  revolution.  The  people  "believed  with  unwavering 
faith  that  the  Union  was  one  and  indestructible ;  that  they 
,,  ..  must  use  force  to  crush  a  rebellion  which  would 

Northern  senti- 
ment toward  the  break  into  pieces  the  republic  of  which  they 
Union.  na(j  grown  so  proud.    When  the  time  of  action 

came  they  did  not  stop  to  discuss  fine  points  of  law,  be- 
cause fervent  love  of  country  was  burning  in  their  hearts. 
Even  those  who  had  argued  in  favor  of  Southern  rights, 
and  spoken  in  behalf  of  State  sovereignty,  were  not  ready 
to  accept  the  consequences  of  such  doctrine.  They  felt 
the  national  life,  and  were  prepared  to  announce  its  exist- 
ence on  the  field  of  battle. 

Slavery  caused  the  civil  war.     It  is  true  that  the  North 

fought  at  first  not  to  free  the  negro,  but  to  preserve  the 

Union ;  few  were  ready  to  admit  that  the  end 

•Slavery  was  . 

destructive  of  would  be  forcible  abolition.  But  the  South 
Union.  seceded  because  the  Eepublicans  opposed  the 

extension  of  slavery,  because  the  Southerners  believed  that 
slavery  would  be  unsafe  even  in  their  own  States,  and  be- 
cause the  leaders  were  driven  to  madness  by  a  long  struggle 
for  equality  in  which  they  now  saw  themselves  beaten.  It 
is  true  that  slavery  caused  the  war,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
war  put  slavery  away ;  but  the  war  was  for  the  Union,  and 
it  brought  into  being  a  better  and  greater  Union  than  ever 
before,  not  simply  a  legal,  formal  union  of  States,  but  a 
real  union  of  feeling  and  impulses  and  sympathies,  such  as 
could  not  exist  while  slavery  was  vitiating  the  life  of  one 
great  section  of  the  people. 

References. 

Short  accounts:  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapter  VIII; 
Bryant  and  Gay,  Popular  History,  Volume  IV,  pp.  424-434;  Lo- 
throp,  William  II.  Seward,  pp.  181-24G;  Morse,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Volume  I,  pp.  111-229.  Longer  accounts :  Rhodes,  History,  Volume 
II,  pp.  237-500,  Volume  III,  pp.  1-316;  Schouler,  History,  Volume 
V,  pp.  371-512. 


THE  yt;r     ^ 

UNITED  STATES  \ 

in  1861  a, 

EXPLANATION: 
FREE  STATES 
CONFEDERATE  STATES 

SLAVE  STATES  NOT  JOINING  THE  CONFEDERACY 
3   TERRITORIES 


Lincoln's 
early  life. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
Secession  and  Civil  War— 1861-1865. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 

Abraham   Lincoln  was  born  in  Kentucky  in   1809. 

His  father  moved  later  to  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Illinois. 
The  family  were  miserably  poor,  the  father 
shiftless  and  utterly  lacking  in  force  of  char- 
acter.     The   early  life  of  the  boy  was  spent 

in  the  midst  of  squalor  and  ex- 
treme poverty.      He  is  said  to 

have   been   at    school  only  one 

year  in  his  whole   life.      What 

books  he   could  lay  hands   on, 

however,  he  read  eagerly.      He 

used  to  write  and  do  "  sums,"  we 

are  told,  on  the  wooden  shovel 

by  the  fireside,  and  to  shave  off 

the   surface  in   order  to   renew 

his  labor.     By  dint  of  persever- 
ance   he    educated    himself    in 

some   way   without  the   help  of 

schools  ;  and  we  find  in  his  later 

life  that  few  men  could  use  the 

English  language  so  simply  and 

effectively  as  he,  and  few  men 

thought    and    spoke  with   such 

clearness  or  showed   such  keen  insight  into  the  difficult 

problems  of  the  time. 

He  managed  to  get  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Illinois,  was 

417 


Olsuur&s. 


418  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  finally  to  Congress.     He  was 

at  first  a  Whig,  but  joined  the  Eepublican  party  when  it 

was   organized,  becoming  at  once   one  of  its 

His  political        m0st  prominent  members.    He  won  for  the  first 

career.  r 

time  national  attention  and  respect  in  the  fa- 
mous debates  with  Douglas  in  1858.  The  skill  which  Lin- 
coln showed  in  these  discussions,  where  he  was  at  least  a 
match  for  his  renowned  antagonist,  won  him  popularity  and 
applause  in  the  whole  North.  And  yet  when  he  was  elected 
President  in  1860  few  people  had  any  idea  of  his  strength. 
It  was  thought  even  by  many  Republicans  that  he  was  a 
rough  fellow,  and  perhaps  a  dangerous  man  for  such  a  cri- 
sis. No  one  could  know  his  full  greatness,  for  it  required 
the  awful  trials  of  four  years  of  war,  the  woe  and  anxiety 
such  as  few  men  in  the  world's  history  have  ever  tried  to 
bear,  to  bring  out  the  wisdom,  judgment,  and  profundity  of 
his  mind  and  the  sweetness  and  lovableness  of  his  character. 
Lincoln  made  up  his  Cabinet  from  the  leaders  of  his 
party,  not  shrinking  from  the  task  of  guiding  them.  Sew- 
ard was  made  Secretary  of  State ;  Chase,  Sec- 
His  Cabinet        retary  of  the  Treasury  ;  Simon  Cameron,  Sec- 

and  inaugural.  ^  . 

retary  of  War.  His  inaugural  address  was  a 
masterpiece.  He  did  not  unduly  threaten  the  Confederate 
States,  but  he  solemnly  warned  them  to  consider  the  conse- 
quences of  their  conduct.  He  left  no  doubt  in  any  one's 
mind  about  what  he  held  to  be  his  duty  :  "  To  the  extent 
of  my  ability  I  shall  take  care  .  .  .  that  the  laws  of  the 
Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  ...  I  trust 
this  will  not  be  considered  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the  de- 
clared purpose  of  the  Union,  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defend  and  maintain  itself." 

Soon  after  his  inauguration  Lincoln  began  to  consider 
what  should  be  done  about  Fort  Sumter.  There  was  great 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  should  be  done.  General 
Scott,  at  the  head  of  the  army,  advised  that  the  fort  be 
abandoned.     Most  of  the  Cabinet  hesitated  at  first  to  take 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


419 


Tort  Sumter, 


any  step  that  might  bring  on  war,  but  the  final  feeling  was 
well  expressed  in  the  words  of  Chase  :  "  If  war  is  to  be  the 
result,  I  see  no  reason  why  it  may  not  be  best 
begun  in  consequence  of  military  resistance  to 
the  efforts  of  the  administration  to  sustain  troops  of  the 
Union,  stationed  under  the  authority  of  the  Government,  in 
a  fort  of  the  Union,  in 


CHARLESTON 
HAUBOIt 


the  ordinary  course  of 
service."  A  fleet  was 
consequently  ordered 
to  carry  relief  to  the 
fort.  Before  it  arrived, 
however,  General  Beau- 
regard, the  leader  of 
the  Confederate  forces, 
summoned  Major  An- 
derson, who  was  in  com- 
mand of  Sumter,  to 
surrender.  Anderson 
refused,  and  the  bat- 
teries  opened    on  the 

fort  April  12,  1861.  The  bombardment  lasted  thirty-four 
hours,  and  then  Anderson  surrendered  the  position.  He 
saluted  his  flag  with  fifty  guns,  and  marched  out  "with 
colors  flying  and  drums  beating,  bringing  away  company 
and  private  property." 

The  firing  on  Sumter  aroused  the  North  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  excitement.  Among  the  great  mass  of  citizens 
there  were  no  longer  discussions  of  constitu- 
tional or  legal  rights.  The  flag  of  the  nation 
had  been  fired  upon,  and  that  was  enough. 
The  President  called  for  volunteers  to  suppress  the  insur- 
rection, and  the  people  answered  with  promptness ;  "  as  if 
by  magic,  the  peaceful  North  became  one  vast  camp." 
Washington,  surrounded  by  slaveholding  States,  was  in 
peril,  and  troops  were  hastened  to  its  defense.     The  first 


The  war 
is  begun 


420  HISTORY  OF  TIIE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

blood  of  the  war  was  shed  in  Baltimore,  where  a  mob  resisted 
the  passage  of  the  Northern  regiments.  That  city,  how- 
ever, was  soon  forcibly  occupied  and  compelled  to  keep  the 
peace.  Maryland  was  kept  from  joining  the  Confederacy. 
Washington  was  garrisoned  and  defended.  It  remained  in 
effect  a  walled  town  for  the  next  four  years. 

South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  had  passed  ordinances  of  secession  before 
the  firing  on   Sumter.     Arkansas  joined  the 
^  Confederacy  May  6,  and  North  Carolina  May 

20.  Virginia  and  Tennessee  took  the  same 
step  somewhat  later.  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri, 
though  containing  strong  slaveholding  elements  and  sym- 
pathizing with  the  South,  did  not  join  the  Confederacy. 

The  South  was  ready  for  war.  Federal  arsenals  in  the 
Southern  States  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Confeder- 
acy and  furnished  the  soldiers  with  equip- 
ttoBoBtL and  ment*  Tne  N01^  was  almost  entirely  unpre- 
pared. An  immense  army  had  to  be  raised  and 
furnished  with  munitions  of  war.  The  North  was  strong, 
for  it  was  built  on  free  labor  and  had  far  outstripped  the 
South  in  industry  and  wealth.  The  South  was  strong  in 
desperate  valor,  for  the  people  believed  that  the  Northern 
army  was  a  foreign  invader ;  a  long  resistance  could  be 
made,  for  the  men  were  fighting  for  their  hearthstones. 
But  the  North  must  finally  win,  if  the  struggle  went  on, 
for  its  resources  were  varied  and  practically  unlimited.  It 
was  really  a  contest  between  the  powers  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  weakness  of  a 
people  whose  industry  was  founded  on  slave  labor,  but  who 
were  supported  by  a  magnificent  and  never-failing  courage. 
The  North  appreciated  the  weakness  of  the  South ;  in- 
deed, believed  that  it  was  weaker  and  less  in  earnest  than  it 
was.  Neither  section  recognized  fully  the  physical  strength 
and  intense  moral  earnestness  of  the  other.  It  was  decided 
very  early  in  the  war  to  crush  out  the  rebellion,  and  this 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.         421 

aim,   though   difficult   to   carry  out,   was  not  abandoned. 

The   main   instrument   in    this   crushing   process,   or   the 

"  Anaconda  "  system,  was  the  navy,  which  was 

The  blockadei  i         i  •         ,    1  i«  t  • 

soon  employed  in  establishing  an  immense  com- 
mercial blockade.  The  enormous  task  of  preventing  any 
vessel  from  entering  or  leaving  a  Southern  port  was  under- 
taken. The  rebellion  was  to  be  crushed,  starved,  and 
stamped  out.  Before  long  the  ports  from  Chesapeake  Bay 
to  Galveston  were  guarded  by  ships  of  the  United  States 
navy. 

The  natural  line  of  defense  of  the  South  was  the  Ohio 
and  the  Potomac  ;  but  as  neither  Maryland  nor  Kentucky 
joined  the  Confederacy,  the  Confederates  were 
sltuatan*"7  compelled  to  take  up  a  line  of  defense  consid- 
erably south  of  these  rivers  both  in  the  East  and 
in  the  West.  The  attitude  of  the  Confederate  armies  was 
principally  one  of  defense,  and  of  the  Federals  one  of  at- 
tack. It  is  necessary  to  keep  these  salient  facts  in  mind. 
The  defensive  attitude  of  the  Southern  armies  gave  them 
great  military  advantage. 

The  mountains,  running  in  a  southwesterly  direction 
from  near  the  source  of  the  Potomac,  divided  the  field  of 
war  into  two  natural  divisions.  In  the  East  the  main  pur- 
pose of  the  Northern  army  was  to  reach  the  political  center 
of  the  Confederacy,  Eichmond.  There  were  two  natural 
methods  of  approach  :  one  overland,  almost  straight  south- 
ward from  Washington ;  in  this  course  the  invading  force 
would  be  endangered  and  retarded  by  forests,  through  which 
the  roads  were  often  poor,  and  by  streams,  which  were 
sometimes  swollen  by  rains  and  difficult  of  passage ;  the 
other  method  of  approach  was  by  way  of  the  sea  to  the 
peninsula  between  the  York  and  the  James  Rivers,  and 
thence  up  the  peninsula  to  Richmond.  Each  method  pre- 
sented difficulties.  In  the  West  the  first  great  purpose  was 
to  get  possession  of  the  Mississippi,  which  divided  the 
western  part  of  the  Confederacy  in  two.     Here  Vicksburg, 


422  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

strongly  fortified  by  nature  and  art,  was  a  strategic  position 
of  immense  importance.  The  rivers  in  the  West,  large  and 
navigable,  would  serve  as  roads  by  which  to  pierce  the  ene- 
my's country.  An  examination  of  the  map  will  make  it 
apparent,*  too,  that  Chattanooga,  holding  as  it  were  the 
gateway  between  Tennessee  and  the  Southeast,  was  likely 
to  be  a  center  of  conflict,  for,  if  the  Union  forces  succeeded 
in  getting  possession  of  eastern  Tennessee,  a  great  contest 
would  ensue  at  this  point,  which  was  doubly  important,  be- 
cause from  it  one  railroad  ran  northeast  to  Kichmond, 
another  southeastward  to  the  sea. 

Looking  a  little  more  closely  at  the  first  Southern  line 
of  defense,  we  find  in  the  West  the  following  important 
posts  :  Columbus,  New  Madrid,  and  Island  No. 
The  Southern  10  on  the  Mississippi,  Fort  Henry  on  the  Ten- 
nessee, and  Fort  Donelson  on  the  Cumberland. 
In  the  East  we  find  first  that  the  western  portion  of  Vir- 
ginia was  of  great  value  to  either  party.  The  eastern  part 
of  the  State  was  more  fully  protected  by  the  Confederate 
troops,  who  had  taken  up  a  position  south  of  Washington. 
The  cry  at  the  South  was  "  On  to  Washington  ! "  the  North 
answered,  "  On  to  Kichmond  !  " 

The  Confederates  were  beaten  in  two  battles  in  western 
Virginia,  and  this  secured  to  the  North  control  of  that 
portion  of  the  country.  The  people  there  were 
lrginia.  ^^  generally  slaveholders  and  had  little  sym- 
pathy with  secession.  They  therefore  formed  a  separate 
State  and  came  into  the  Union  as  West  Virginia.  The 
movement  was  begun  early,  but  it  was  June,  1863,  before 
the  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

The  people  at  the  North,  not  realizing  what  war  meant, 
and  believing  that  all  would  be  over  in  a  few  months, 
clamored  for  activity.  They  did  not  appreciate  that  the 
troops  were  raw  and  undisciplined,  but  they  demanded  im- 

*  See  map,  p.  458-9. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


423 


mediate  victory.  General  McDowell,  who  commanded  the 
army  in  the  field  in  front  of  Washington,  set  out  with  an 

army  of  about  thirty  thousand  men  to  attack 
Jul1 21*1861     ^ie   Confederates,  who   were   commanded    by 

Beauregard,  and  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  The  two 
armies  met  near  Bull  Run  Creek,  not  far  from  Manassas 
Junction,  about  twenty-five  miles  southwest  of  Washington. 
The  arrangements  of  the  battle  were  well  planned ;  but  the 
Federal  troops  were  not  under  proper  control,  and  the  sub- 


v* 


W     U 


In., 


Y     v  ttoitininr..  ($V  ST.    ■  ! 


^  -\  £$•'_.         .   .Charlottesville-'. 


^ 


Si^r 


Is 


^         ^  _--,  Richmond*?     7Woi^v)x;.M'''Hl'  *Vi       ^  &*       ^ 

/  Eve  Forks.       '^   Pe^rebul?       ^>.>rtfcwn         \^v 


Ai 

it 


iOtsi 


^Dinwiddie  C.n 


I      s.      «;  /       Hon**    x 


>^W^ 


28 


The  War  in  the  East. 


424 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


^.£.j£*^ous?££ 


ordinate  generals  were  not  well  trained.    For  some  time  the 
men  fought  with  quite  remarkable  vigor  and  courage ;  but 

at  length  re-enforcements  for  the 
Confederates  appeared  on  the  field 
and  began  a  flank  attack.  The 
National  forces  then  began  a  re- 
treat, which  "  soon  became  a  rout, 
and  this  presently  degenerated  in- 
to a  panic."  These  are  McDowell's 
own  words  describing  the  effect  of 
the  battle.  Many  are  said  not  to 
have  stopped  fleeing  until  they 
reached  Washington.  But  the 
Confederate  forces  were  in  no  con- 
dition for  pursuit.  The  victory 
was  as  demoralizing  to  them  as 
defeat  for  the  Federals. 
The  battle  of  Bull  Run  depressed  the  North,  but  it 
brought  home  to  the  people  some  conception  of  what  it 
meant  to  suppress  the  rebellion.    Horace  Gree- 

?attk!8°fthe  ley  wrote  Lincoln  a  letter>  whicn  illustrates 
the  depression  at  the  North.  It  begins  with 
the  words,  "  This  is  my  seventh  sleepless  night " ;  it  ends, 
"Yours  in  the  depths  of  bitterness."  It  was  no  holiday 
campaign  that  was  needed.  Lovers  of  the  Union  quieted 
down  into  stern  determination  to  fight  steadily  for  the  laws, 
and  the  effect  of  the  defeat  was  good.  At  the  South  there 
was  an  undue  feeling  of  elation,  and  the  belief  that  the 
South  could  not  be  conquered  was  materially  strengthened. 
After  this  battle  it  was  evident  that  the  soldiers  needed 
drilling  and  the  army  needed  organization  before  success 
on  the  field  of  battle  was  possible.  General 
McClellan,  who  had  won  some  success  in 
western  Virginia,  was  summoned  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  troops  in  front  of  Washington.  In  November 
General  Scott  was  put  upon  the  retired  list,  and  McClellan 


General 
McClellan 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


425 


succeeded  him  in  general  charge  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States.  Under  their  new  commander  the  troops, 
which  were  being  daily  increased  with  new  recruits,  were 
organized  into  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac.  For 
months  there  was  no  action.  The  daily  report  of  the 
Northern  newspapers  was  :  "  All  quiet  on  the  Potomac." 

Hardly  was  the  war  begun  when  England  issued  a 
"proclamation  of  neutrality."  This  acknowledged  the 
South  m  belligerency  of  the  Confederacy.     The  theory 

belligerency  of  the  United  States  Government  was  that 
acknowledged,  there  was  in  reality  no  war,  but  only  an  insur- 
rection. The  people  there- 
fore felt  that  Great  Britain 
acted  hastily  in  acknowledg- 
ing that  the  South  was  a 
belligerent  power.*  The 
North  had  hoped  for  the 
sympathy  of  the  English  in 
a  contest  manifestly  in  the 
interest  of  freedom;  and 
when  England  so  quickly 
issued  this  proclamation 
there  was  considerable  re- 
sentment. France  soon  took 
the  same  step,  and  other 
states  followed. 

The  South,  on  the  other 
hand,  believed  that  the  Eu- 
ropean states  would  not  suffer  the  supply  of  cotton  to  be 
cut   off,  and  that  England  especially  would   be  forced  to 


L^M^Jl^ 


*  Such  a  proclamation  does  not  acknowledge  that  those  engaged 
in  the  rebellion  have  really  formed  a  new  state  in  the  family  of  nations, 
but  it  declares  that  war  exists  between  two  parties.  Now  the  United 
States  Government  at  this  time  was  not  willing  to  admit  that  this  re- 
bellion was  a  war ;  they  wished  the  "  rebels  "  to  be  considered  merely 
traitors. 


426 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN   NATION. 


recognize  the  Confederacy  as  an  independent  power,  break 
up  the  blockade,  and  possibly  directly  join  in  the  contest 
The  South  *n  or(^er  ^°  obtain  cotton  for  her  mills,  so  that 

believes  "cot-  her  starving  operatives  might  have  work.  This 
ton  is  king."  never  came  about,  however.  Had  the  South 
been  fighting  for  home  rule  alone,  and  not  for  slavery,  the 
European  states  would  have  been  under  stronger  tempta- 
tion to  acknowledge  the  Confederacy  as  a  separate  nation. 


w 


r 


yJEFFERSON  ClTYtf 


Jf    -*. 


I 

i  o 

|(  N  D  lyMSTAi  columbus^?    wi*feEUN<y 


LINOI   S 

ft       J       ! 

SPRINGF/ELD         V  IND/ANApOUS     j 


^Cincinnati 


rifle 


T  ,V> 


FRANKFORT  V 


Perry  ville 


'"> 


Bowling  Green ^ 


i  VNASHVILLE^vVppiox-, 

t.riljbw/^   T    E     l,Nt  Eo  s     s- 
Murfreesboro  Vjf 


In  the  West 
1861. 


In  the  West,  during  the  summer  of  1861,  not  much  was 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  offensive  warfare.  In  Missouri 
there  was  some  sharp  fighting.  A  large  ele- 
ment of  the  people  of  that  State  sympathized 
with  the  secession  movement.  For  some  time, 
therefore,  the  State  was  given  up  to  internal  conflict.  A 
convention  finally  voted  for  the  Union  by  a  large  majority, 
and  the  Federal  forces  brought  the  State  under  their  con- 
trol.    At  the  end  of  the  year  Generals  Halleck  and  Buell 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.         427 

were  in  command  in  the  West,  the  latter  with  his  head- 
quarters at  Louisville  in  charge  of  the  Department  of  the 
Ohio.  Halleck  had  his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  and  was 
in  charge  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri.  General 
Grant,  acting  under  Halleck's  orders,  was  stationed  at 
Cairo. 

Movements  in  the  West  were  retarded  somewhat,  be- 
cause the  Federal  authorities  did  not  wish  to  alienate  Ken- 
tucky by  sending  in  troops  and  making  that 

for  Union  ™     State  the  basis  of  °Perations  against  Tennessee. 

Kentucky  endeavored  at  first  to  hold  a  neutral 
position,  siding  neither  with  the  North  nor  the  South. 
That  condition  of  things  could  not  last  long,  however. 
With  infinite  tact  and  patience  Lincoln  applied  himself  to 
the  task  of  winning  the  State  for  the  Union  without  war. 
The  Union  element  was  encouraged  and  guided,  until  at 
length  it  obtained  full  control  of  the  State  Government. 
The  Confederate  army  from  Tennessee  alienated  Kentucky 
by  making  an  inroad  into  it,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
latter  State  was  safely  on  the  Federal  side  by  the  autumn 
of  1861. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  18G1,  with  the  Union  forces  sta- 
tioned as  we  have  indicated  in  preceding  paragraphs,  with 

Kentucky  now  committed  to  the  Union,  the 

tire  West  °f  time  bad  come  for  an  onward  marcn  of  Federal 
troops.  Movement  began  in  the  winter,  and 
when  once  the  troops  in  the  W^est  began  to  move  they 
kept  vigorously  at  work,  until  finally  the  Mississippi  was 
open  its  whole  length.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show 
what  an  advantage  the  rivers  were  to  the  Northern  forces 
in  their  invasion  of  the  Southwestern  States.  Troops  could 
be  conveyed  up  and  down  these  rivers  easily  and  rapidly,  or 
their  supplies  could  be  quickly  provided.  Seeing  this  ad- 
vantage, the  National  Government  made  great  efforts  to  fit 
out  boats  that  would  be  of  service  on  these  Western  waters. 
This  gunboat  service  in  the  West  formed  a  very  important 


428  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

factor  in  the  movement    of   armies  and  in  the  conquest 
of  the  country.  v 

The  Congress  elected  in  1860  was  summoned  to  meet  in 
extra  session  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861.     The  Republicans 
controlled  the  House  and  Senate.     The  Demo- 
crats joined  in  necessary  war  legislation.     Be- 
fore the  gathering  of  Congress  the  President  had,  of  his 
own  accord,  declared  the  suspension  of  the   privilege  of 
habeas  corpus  within  the  vicinity  of  Baltimore,  and  had 
done  a  great  many  acts  made  necessary  by  the  emergency. 
His   actions   were   now  ratified   by    Congress. 
Congressional      Thege  actg  were  principally  the  first  call  for 

action.  r  ii 

militia,  establishment  of  the  blockade,  the  call 
for  three-year  volunteers,  the  increase  of  the  regular  army  and 
navy,  and  the  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.*  The  President  recommended  in  his  first  message 
that  an  army  of  four  hundred  thousand  men  be  raised. 
Congress  passed  a  bill  providing  for  enlistments  of  not 
more  than  five  hundred  thousand  men,  and  authorized  a 
loan  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars.  It  increased 
the  tariff  duties,  and  provided  for  a  direct  tax  and  an  in- 
come tax. 

By  this  time  Lincoln  had  shown  his  master  hand  as  a 
popular  leader.     Whatever  he  said  came  to  the  people  of 

the  North  as  sound  sense.  He  addressed  in 
power.118  simple,  straightforward    language   "the   plain 

people,"  and  he  soon  obtained  their  unwavering 
support.  In  strictly  executive  matters,  too,  he  was  the 
guiding  spirit  of  the  administration,  not  yielding  his  judg- 
ment to  the  wise  men  who  made  up  his  Cabinet.  "  The 
President  is  the  best  of  us,"  wrote  Seward  candidly. 

We  should  notice  at  this  juncture  how  the  Northern 
men  were  now  united,  irrespective  of  parties.     The  Gov- 

*  There  was  little  question  of  the  legality  of  the  first  two,  and  all, 
if  extra-constitutional,  seemed  necessary  and  desirable. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1805. 


429 


ernment  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Republicans,  but  on  the 
motion  offered  in  the  House  by  a  Democrat  that  the  House 
should  pledge  itself  "  to  vote  for  any  amount  of  money  and 
any  number  of  men  which  may 
be  necessary  to  insure  a  speedy 
and  effectual  suppression  of  the 
rebellion,"  there  were  only  four 
votes  in  opposition.     In  January 
of  1862,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who 
had  been  a  lifelong  Democrat, 
was  made  Secretary  of  War,  in 
place  of  Simon  Cameron.    There 
were,  it  must  be  said,  through- 
out the  war  some  persons  at  the 
North,  known  as  Copperheads, 
who  were  in  secret  sympathy  with 
the  South,  or  at  the  best  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  North;   but     ^LaZw,^Aa.^Xo^Xo^ 
the  great  body  of  the   people, 

whatever  may  have  been  their  earlier  political  leanings, 
were  now  heartily  for  the  Union. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  serious  discord  and  ill  feeling 
were  brought  about  between  England  and  America  by  an 
affair  in  itself  comparatively  trivial.  The  Con- 
federate Government,  intent  on  getting  full  rec- 
ognition from  foreign  states,  dispatched  two 
commissioners,  the  one  to  England,  the  other  to  France. 
Conveyed  by  an  English  ship,  the  Trent,  they  were  inter- 
cepted by  an  American  man-of-war,  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Wilkes,  and  were  taken  into  custody.  The  English 
Government  demanded  the  immediate  release  of  the  commis- 
sioners and  a  suitable  apology,  and  began  preparations  for 
war.  Our  Government  took  time  for  consideration,  and 
then  gave  up  the  men.  Here  doubtless  England  was  right. 
Our  man-of-war  had  no  right  to  stop  an  English  vessel  on 
the  high  seas  and  take   passengers   from   her.      But   the 


The  Trent 
affair. 


430 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION, 


abruptness  of  the  demand  for  reparation  and  the  haste 
shown  in  preparing  for  war  irritated  the  American  people, 
already  annoyed  at  the  attitude  that  England  had  taken 
toward  the  South.  Our  Government,  by  a  courteous  yield- 
ing, was  saved  a  war  which  would  have  perhaps  been  over- 
whelmingly disastrous  while  the  civil  war  was  in  progress. 


At  the  beginning  of  1862  the  Union  army  was  large, 

and,  on  the  whole,  well  disciplined  and  equipped.     There 

were  over  six  hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the 

Jfhi862ginning     whole   army-      In   the   East   McClellan   faced 
Joseph   Johnston.      In   Kentucky   Buell    and 

Halleck  commanded  against  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who 
had  charge  of  the  Confederate  line  of  defense.     Early  in 

the  year  General  Garfield  per- 
formed some  vigorous  and 
brilliant  work  in  eastern  Ken- 
tucky, driving  the  Confeder- 
ates out  of  the  Sandy  Valley, 
and  General  George  II.  Thomas 
defeated  the  enemy  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Mill  Springs.  Thus 
eastern  Kentucky  was  taken 
from  the  hands  of  the  Con- 
federates. 

In  February  it  was  decided 
to   attack    Forts    Henry  and 
Donelson,  the  former  on  the 
Tennessee,  the  latter  on  the 
Cumberland  River.     If  these  were  taken  the  Confederate 
line  would  be  broken  in  the  center.     Commodore  Foote, 
.  with  several  gunboats,  carried  up  the  Tennessee 

ries,  February,    an   army  of   seventeen   thousand   men,  under 
1862.  command  of  General  Grant.     The  efficiency  of 

the  new  gunboat  was  to  be  put  to  the  test.     The  army  was 
landed,  and  the  boats  engaged  the  batteries  of  Fort  Henry, 


^^/^C^-x 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  431 

but  protracted  engagement  was  unnecessary,  inasmuch  as 
most  of  the  Confederate  force  had  been  withdrawn  to  Fort 
Donelson,  which  was  only  eleven  miles  distant.      Grant 


432  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

now  marched  his  army  to  the  Cumberland  and  invested  this 
fort,  with  five  thousand  less  men  than  the  enemy  had.  Ke- 
enf orcements  soon  appeared  to  assist  him,  and  the  gunboats 
made  their  way  around  to  help  in  the  attack.  The  garri- 
son tried  to  break  through  the  Union  line  and  escape,  but 
they  were  beaten  back,  and  assault  was  made  by  the  Union 
troops.  Part  of  the  works  were  carried  and  the  fort  sur- 
rendered. It  was  a  great  victory  for  the  Union  forces; 
over  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  were  taken.  The  main 
line  of  the  Confederate  defense  was  broken.  Kentucky  was 
now  wholly  wrested  from  the  Confederates,  and  Nashville 
was  soon  occupied  by  the  Union  troops. 

New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10  were  strongly  held  by 
the  Confederates  as  advanced  posts  on  the  Mississippi 
Kiver.  Early  in  the  spring  these  places  were  attacked  by 
Commodore  Foote  and  General  Pope.  First  New  Madrid 
was  taken,  and  then,  by  clever  strategy,  the  island  was 
captured  and  with  it  a  garrison  of  seven  thousand  men. 
There  was  great  rejoicing  all  over  the  North  at  the  suc- 
cess of  Grant  and  Pope.  Memphis  itself  was  in  immediate 
danger. 

After  Grant's  victory  at  Donelson  the  Confederates  had 

gathered  in  force  at  Corinth,  in  northern  Mississippi.     This 

place  was  now  a  strong  position  in  their  new 

fetotol£!!"     line   of   defense>  which  ran    along   the  Mem" 
phis  and  Charleston  Kailroad,  from  Memphis 

through  Corinth  to  Chattanooga.  Grant  prepared  to  break 
this  new  line.  The  main  body  of  his  army,  some  forty 
thousand  men,  was  at  Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  Tennes- 
see, while  General  Buell  was  marching  across  the  country 
from  Nashville  to  co-operate  with  him. 

The  Confederate  troops  marched  out  from  Corinth  and 
attacked  Grant  in  force  before  Buell  could  arrive.  The 
battle  began  on  Sunday  morning,  April  6,  1862,  and  was 
waged  with  furious  vigor  the  whole  day.  The  Confederates 
made  a  series  of  fierce  onslaughts,  which  were  met  with  ob- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


433 


stinate  courage.  By  nightfall  the  Union  forces  had  been 
driven  back  about  a  mile  from  the  position  occupied  in  the 

morning.*  But  there  was  no  discouragement. 
***** fm**  During  the  night  Buell  arrived.     The  tables 

were  now  turned,  and  the  Confederates  were 
driven  in  confusion  from    f 


the  field.  Grant  always 
strenuously  maintained 
that  even  had  Buell  not 
arrived  he  could  have 
won  victory  on  the 
morrow.  Certainly  the 
Union  forces  were  not 
beaten  the  first  day,  but 
re-enforcements  made 
success  a  certainty. 

The  Federal  army 
now  took  Corinth. 
Thus  the  second  chief 
line  of  the  Confederate 


Battle  of  Shiloh.    Showing  positions 
of  forces  at  noon  on  second  day. 


Memphis  taken. 


defense  was  broken.  Next  Memphis  fell,  and 
the  Mississippi  was  free  to  the  Union  gunboats 
as  far  south  as  Vicksburg.  The  Western  army  had  certainly 
accomplished  wonders,  and  the  loyal  hearts  of  the  North 
were  cheered  with  a  succession  of  victories. 

There  was  no  great  movement  during  the  rest  of  the 
year  in  the  West.  Halleck  was  a  leisurely  general,  and 
Ax,  advantage  was  not  taken  of  the  great  success 

Other  engage-  °  ° 

mentsinthe  of  his  subordinates.  The  Confederates  under 
West,  1862.  Bragg  made  themselves  secure  at  Chattanooga, 
and  then  rapidly  marched  forward  even  to  the  northern 
part  of  Kentucky,  near  Louisville. f  Checked  at  Perryville, 
they  fell  back  and  took  position  in  the  vicinity  of  Murfrees- 

*  General  A.  S.  Johnston,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Southern  generals, 
was  killed  the  first  day  of  the  battle — a  grievous  loss  to  the  South, 
j-  Battle  of  Perryville  occurred  October  8,  1862 — a  Federal  victory. 


434  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

borough.  Here,  at  the  very  end  of  the  year,  they  were 
attacked  by  the  Federals  under  Rosecrans.  The  battle, 
known  as  the  battle  of  Murfreesborough  or  Stone's  River, 
was  favorable  to  the  Union  forces.  Bragg  withdrew  his 
army  some  thirty  miles  and  stood  as  a  barrier  against  far- 
ther Union  advance  toward  Chattanooga,  a  strategic  point 
of  great  importance.  Grant  held  Corinth  in  spite  of  deter- 
mined efforts  *  to  defeat  him.  Later  in  the  year  he  moved 
southward,  preparing  for  an  attack  upon  Vicksburg. 

Meanwhile  a  duel  had  taken  place  between  two  iron- 
clads in  Hampton  Roads.  The  Confederates  had  prepared 
„   u  an  ironclad  of  new  model.     The  hulk  of  an  old 

Monitor  and 

Merrimac,  vessel  was  cut  down  and  covered  with  an  iron 

March,  1862.  coating,  which  converted  it  into  a  floating  bat- 
tery most  formidable  to  the  Union  vessels  that  were  gath- 
ered in  the  harbor.  Early  in  March  this  strange  monster 
appeared,  attacked  the  frigates  Congress  and  Cumberland, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  James  River,  and  destroyed  them 
without  difficulty.  The  success  of  the  blockade  was  en- 
dangered. There  was  great  consternation.  It  was  feared 
that  the  rebel  ram  might  bombard  Washington,  and  even 
sail  to  Philadelphia  or  New  York.  But  now  a  new  and 
even  stranger  craft  appeared  upon  the  scene.  Northern 
ingenuity  had  produced  an  antagonist  quite  a  match  for 
the  Merrimac.  The  Monitor  was  seemingly  a  mere  plat- 
form with  a  movable  turret  pierced  for  two  guns.  A  con- 
flict ensued  between  the  iron  vessels.  The  shot  and  shell 
that  were  poured  against  the  Monitor's  turret  and  deck 
glanced  harmlessly  aside.  The  Merrimac  was  not  destroyed, 
but  after  a  fight  of  several  hours  it  withdrew  to  Norfolk,  its 
victorious  career  at  an  end. 

The  control  of  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi  was 
of  great  importance.  In  the  spring  of  1862  a  powerful 
fleet  was  fitted  out  to  attack  New  Orleans  from  the  Gulf. 

*  Battle  of  Iuka,  September  19,  1862.     Battle  of  Corinth,  October 
3-4,  1862. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


435 


To  capture  the  place  was  a  difficult  task,  for  it  was  de- 
fended by  strong  forts  and  by  a  number  of  ships  of  war. 
The  command  of  the  expedition  against  it  was 

New  Orleans         SivCm  t0  David  G"  Farragut-      In  APril  the  fleet 

began  the  bombardment  of  the  forts.  Six  days 
and  nights  without  intermission  shells  were  thrown  from 
huge  mortars  into  the  defenses,  but  they  did  not  succeed 


DIAGRAM  OF  THE 

BATTLE  OF  HAMPTON  KOADS 

The  dotted  lines  enclose  the  channel  where 
the  depth  of  water  is  is  feet  or  more. 


in  destroying  the  works  or  driving  the  garrison  out.  Far- 
ragut then  planned  to  run  by  the  forts,  attack  the  fleet 
above  them,  proceed  up  the  river,  and  take  the  city.  This 
was  successfully  accomplished.  Xew  Orleans  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Federal  forces,  April,  1862. 


436 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


The  peninsula 
campaign. 


As  already  suggested,  the  fall  and  winter  *  of  1861-,62 
had  been  spent  in  quietness  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
In  the  spring  McClellan  decided  to  change 
his  base  of  operations  and  to  transfer  his  forces 
to  the  peninsula  between  the  James  River  and 
the  York.     He  moved  leisurely  up  the  peninsula,  hindered 

somewhat  by   the   enemy,  and 
especially  balked   by  a  daring 
offensive  move  made  by  "  Stone- 
wall "    Jackson    down    the 
Shenandoah  Valley.    This 
valley    was    peculiarly 
advantageous 
ground       for 
the      enemy. 
It    furnished 
a  safe  avenue 
for  raids  into 
Maryland    or 
feints  against 
Washington. 
If  the  Union 

forces  pursued,  they  were  led  constantly  away  from  Rich- 
mond. 

McClellan  pushed  on  and  threw  his  left  wing  across  the 
Chickahominy  at  Fair  Oaks.  This  portion  of  the  army  was 
attacked  by  Johnston,  who  had  managed  to 
May  31  1862.  co^ec^  a  large  force  for  the  protection  of  the 
Confederate  capital.  Unsupported  by  the  right 
wing,  which  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  the  National 
left  was  nearly  crushed.  Night  ensued,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing the  Confederate  army  was  met  and  repulsed.  McClellan 
pushed  his  army  still  nearer  Richmond.     By  the  end  of 

*  Battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  a  serious  defeat  for  the  National  forces,  had 
occurred  in  October,  1861.  Only  a  small  force  was  engaged.  McClellan 
had  brought  the  army  to  a  fine  state  of  organization  and  discipline. 


The  Peninsula  Campaign. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


437 


June  he  was  encamped  four  miles  from  the  city,  and  to 
those  who  did  not  know  the  dangers  and  the  difficulties 
success  seemed  certain. 

Johnston  had  been  wounded  in  the  battle  at  Fair  Oaks, 
and  he  was  now  succeeded  by  General  R.  E.  Lee.  The  new 
,  commander  at  once  began  effective  strategy, 
fight,  June  26  While  pretending  to  send  forces  to  the  Shen- 
to  July  2, 1862.  andoan  Valley  to  re-enforce  Jackson,  he  actu- 
ally summoned  Jackson  back  to  Richmond.  The  attack 
upon  the  long  line  of  the  National  troops,  the  memorable 
seven  days'  fighting,  began.  The  Union  forces  were  at- 
tacked with  terrific  vigor  by  the  Confederates,  but  the 
assaults  were  met  with  cour- 
age. McClellan  handled  his 
army  well,  but  did  not  show 
ability  to  act  with  swiftness 
or  decision.  In  the  course 
of  the  seven  days  he  moved 
his  troops  from  north  of  the 
Chickahominy  to  Malvern 
Hill  on  the  James,  where 
the  last  of  the  seven  battles 
was  fought.  In  August  he 
was  ordered  to  withdraw 
from  his  position.  He  re- 
treated slowly  toward  For- 
tress Monroe,  bringing  off 
his  troops  with  skill. 

General  Halleck,  who,  be- 
cause of  the  rare 
Pope!^^        efficiency  of  his   subordinates,*  had   won  vic- 
tories  in  the  West,  was  put  in  general  charge 
of  the  armies.     About  the  same  time  an  army  was   placed 

*  Halleck  was  a  scholarly  general,  but  he  lacked  force  and  vim.  He 
was  made  general-in-chief,  with  headquarters  at  Washington,  not  tak- 
ing the  field  in  person. 


438  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

under  the  command  of  Pope.     Its  field  of  operation  was 
in  northern  Virginia. 

McClellan  was  ordered  to  move  his  troops  from  the 
peninsula  by  water  to  Acquia  Creek  on  the  Potomac. 
Pope  moved  southwest  from  Washington  across 
of  Bull  Run,  BuU  Run  and  faced  Lee  on  the  Eappahannock 
August  29,  30,  just  northeast  of  Culpeper.  The  Confederate 
commander  sent  Jackson  on  a  wide  detour. 
Pope's  supplies  were  destroyed  and  he  fell  back.  After 
various  maneuvers,  carried  on  largely  in  ignorance  of  the 
real  situation,  the  Union  forces  attacked  the  enemy,  strong 
in  numbers,  near  the  old  battlefield  of  Bull  Run.  The  re- 
sult was  disaster.  The  whole  Federal  army  was  near  being 
overwhelmed. 

Pope  retreated  toward  the  Potomac,  and  gathered  his 
brave  but  distracted  army  within  the  defenses  of  Wash- 
ington. The  invasion  was  a  failure.  Pope  had 
defeat complete  been  outgeneraled  by  Lee,  who  seemed  at  every 
moment  to  know  the  whole  situation  thorough- 
ly. Stonewall  Jackson's  splendid  efficiency  in  carrying  out 
Lee's  plans  had  much  to  do  with  the  victory.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  the  whole  campaign  was  one  of  which  an 
American  can  well  be  proud.  The  North  was  outgeneraled, 
but  the  troops  of  the  South  and  North  fought  gallantly  and 
persistently.  The  Northern  men  met  defeat  with  that  in- 
domitable pluck  and  patience  which  was  a  match  for  South- 
ern dash  and  brilliance.  Pope  reported  after  the  sore  de- 
feat :  "  The  troops  are  in  good  heart,  and  marched  off  the 
field  without  the  least  hurry  or  confusion.  Their  conduct 
was  very  fine." 

McClellan  was  again  put  in  full  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  including  the  troops  that  Pope  had  com- 
manded. He  was  under  the  general  direction  of  Halleck. 
He  prepared  to  meet  Lee,  who  had  determined  upon  an 
invasion  of  Maryland.  The  situation  was  now  exactly  the 
opposite  from  what  it  had  been  a  few  months  before.     In 


ADMINISTKATION  OF   LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


439 


Lee  invades 
Maryland, 


June  the  Union  forces  were  within  sound  of  the  church 
bells  of  Richmond;  in  September  they  were  maneuvering 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  own  capital 
to  guard  it  from  a  Confederate  attack.  Lee 
marched  northward  across  the  Potomac  into 
Maryland.  Jackson,  under  his  direction,  bombarded  Har- 
per's Ferry  and  easily  took  the  position  with  over  eleven 
thousand  men,  who  ought  to  have  been  either  removed  or 
Antietam  properly  re-enforced.     Then  occurred  the  bat- 

September,         tie  of  Antietam  between  the  two  main  armies, 
1862,  a   fierce  contest    in   which   the  Union   forces 

lost  twelve  thousand  men  and 
more ;  the  Confederates  nearly  as 
many.  The  invasion  of  Maryland 
was  a  failure,  and  Lee  retreated 
across  the  Potomac.  McClellan, 
perhaps  necessarily,  allowed  him 
to  escape  without  pursuit.  The 
Union  army  was  soon  led  forward 
again  to  the  Rappahannock.  Mc- 
Clellan was  then  removed,  and 
Burnside  put  in  his  place. 

Burnside,  knowing  how  much 
McClellan  had  been  criticized  be- 
cause he  did  not  fight  with  greater 
dash  and  vehemence,  and  push 
m   ^         *      vigorously   on  the   enemy,   determined   to  be 

The  horror  of  °  .  J1 

Fredericksburg,  aggressive,  lie  moved  down  the  Rappahan- 
nock to  Fredericksburg.  By  this  time  Lee 
had  manned  the  strong  defenses  south  and 
west  of  the  town  with  a  powerful  army.  The  Union  troops 
made  a  furious  attack  upon  the  Confederate  position.  The 
slaughter  that  ensued  was  horrible.  Burnside  retreated 
across  the  river  with  a  loss  of  thirteen  thousand  men. 

This  was  the  end  of  a  year  of  dire  disaster  in  the  East. 

There  had  been  a  long  series  of  defeats.     In  the  peninsula 
29 


December, 
1862, 


440 


IIISTOKV   OF  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 


campaign  there  had  been  Borne  clever  work  and  everywhere 
desperate  fighting.  Antietam  was  counted  a  Union  victory, 
and  Lee  had  found  that  he  dared  not  press 
campaign  of  farther  north;  but  after  the  second  battle  of 
1862,  Hull  Run,  and  the  terrible  repulse  at  Fredericks- 

burg,  an  invasion  of  Virginia  and  a  conquest  of  the  South 
Beemed  to  many  a  disheartening  and  impossible  task.  Spite 
of  successes  in  the  West,  the  winter  of  1802-'C3  was  a 
gloomy  one  in  Northern  households. 


The  campaign  of  1803  fortunately  brought  new  hope  to 
the  nation  ;  it  gave  assurance,  in  fact,  that  the  rebellion  would 

be  crushed  if  tho  North 
would  persevere.  Be- 
fore examining  the  mili- 
tary events  of  that  year 
we  need  to  notice  some 
political  events  that  gave 
new  character  and  mean- 
ing to  the  war.  The 
North  had  rushed  to 
arms  when  tho  flag  was 
fired  upon;  tho  one 
thought  prevailed,  that 
the  Union  must  be  pre- 
served. But  as  the 
months  went  by  it  was 
felt  by  many  that  the 
gre*1  curse  of  slavery,  which  had  estranged  the  South  and 
driven  the  two  sections  apart,  must  be  done  away  with  as  a 
result  of  the  war. 

President  Lincoln  hated  slavery,  and  was  anxious  to  sec 
the  day  when  the  nation  would  not  be  cursed  with  the  sys- 
tem. During  the  first  year  of  tho  war,  how- 
ever, he  was  averse  to  taking  any  step  that 
WOQld   make  the  war  to  all  appearances  a  crusade  against 


BATTLE  OF 

FHKDKKICKSIU  K(. 

scale  or  MILES  &/ 

1  * *  v 


Political  affairs. 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  441 

slavery.     He  knew  that  there  was  a  strong  sentiment  at  the 

North  in  favor  of  immediate  emancipation,  but  there  was 

also  a  strong  race  prejudice  as  well.      More- 

The  Union         over,   for  a  loner  time   feeling  in   the   border 

and  slavery.  °  °, 

States  must  be  regarded,  and  this  was,  of  course, 
opposed  to  abolition.  It  was  clear  enough  to  Lincoln  that 
slavery  could  be  abolished  only  by  saving  the  Union,  and 
that  this,  morally  and  legally,  was  his  first  duty.  Were  the 
South  victorious  in  the  war,  abolition  would  be  impossible. 
Were  the  North  victorious,  then  there  would  be  a  chance 
for  the  final  extirpation  of  slavery.  So  the  President  con- 
stantly checked  the  excited  abolition  sentiment,  and  im- 
pressed on  the  minds  of  all  that  the  Union  must  be  pre- 
served. 

In  March,  1862,  he  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress 
recommending  the  passage  of  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that 

"the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with 

Compensated  gt  t          M  h  d      t   gradual    abolish- 

abolishment.  J  J  r     ° 

ment  of  slavery,  giving  to  such  State  pecuniary 
aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in  its  discretion,  to  compen- 
sate for  the  inconvenience,  both  public  and  private,  pro- 
duced by  the  change."  Congress  passed  a  resolution  of  that 
nature.  But  Lincoln  could  not  get  the  slave  States  that  still 
remained  in  the  Union  to  listen  to  him.  He  pleaded  with 
their  representatives  and  senators  in  Congress,  pointing  out 
to  them  that  slavery  in  the  border  States  must  before  long 
"be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the 
mere  incidents  of  war."  His  pleading  was  of  no  effect. 
Those  States  refused  to  take  advantage  of  the  National  aid 
thus  offered  or  to  take  a  single  step  toward  emancipation. 

Yet  the  antislavery  sentiment  was  growing,  and  the 
time  was  near  at  hand  when  slavery  must  go.  The  en- 
thusiasts brought  great  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Presi- 
dent, but  he  wisely  and  patiently  bided  his  time.  About 
the  middle  of  the  summer  he  drew  up  a  draft  of  a  proclama- 
tion for  emancipation.      Shortly  afterward  he  read  it  to 


(JfrtAAof  \w*M,  pftw  foil  ^  /**^<M&Co~  touu^rPp&j 


rf 1&»J  pU    a*y  (Lffi&ttT  w*.   Que*  (frvnJb*  jtnrt&*,. 

t$ZC  cU*  /t0t  i+x,  euro**'  j&^Xg  A^f^i^^^  *~  *-&/ 
&r*W*"    t//^*3  (U^yCZcC  JjtSGf^  j(L, /ft^£*%*#C*4   C&tt+i/ 

Lincoln's  Draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  443 

his   Cabinet.     He   did  not  ask  the  opinions  of  his  secre- 
taries ;    he  simply  announced  his  purpose.      The  measure 
was  a  war  measure,  and  he  intended  to  shoulder 
Emancipation      ^  wh0ie  responsibility  as  the  commander  in 

proclamation.  r  J  , 

chief.  It  is  a  striking  scene  in  history — this 
plain  and  simple  man,  bred  in  poverty,  reared  in  adversity, 
quietly  declaring  that  he  intends  to  strike  the  shackles 
from  four  million  slaves ;  that  he  alone  is  ready  to  do  the 
most  momentous  thing  done  on  the  American  continent 
since  the  days  of  the  Philadelphia  convention. 

The  publication  of  the  emancipation  proclamation  was 
delayed  for  a  time,  because  it  seemed  wise  to  wait  until  the 
Union  forces  had  won  a  victory,  lest  the  proclamation  "  be 

viewed,"  as  Seward  said,  "  as  the  last  measure 
Lincoln  waits      of  an  exhausted  Government,  a  cry  for  help." 

for  victory.  »  T- 

After  Lee  was  beaten  back  at  Antietam,  Lin- 
coln decided  that  the  time  was  come.  "  When  the  rebel 
army  was  at  Frederick,  I  determined,  as  soon  as  it  should 
be  driven  out  of  Maryland,  to  issue  a  proclamation  of 
emancipation,  such  as  I  thought  most  likely  to  be  useful. 
I  said  nothing  to  any  one ;  but  I  made  a  promise  to  my- 
self, and  (hesitating  a  little)  to  my  Maker.  The  rebel 
army  is  now  driven  out,  and  I  am  going  to  fulfill  that 
promise."  * 

On  September  22,  therefore,  the  famous  proclamation 
was  issued.  This  was  only  preliminary.  It  warned  the  in- 
_.  ...    _.      .     habitants  of  the  States  in  rebellion  that  unless 

Publication  of 

the  proclama-  they  should  return  to  their  allegiance  before 
tion,  1862.         the  first  day  of  january5 1863)  he  Would  declare 

their  slaves  free.  Of  course  this  announcement  had  no 
effect  in  bringing  back  the  Southern  people  to  their  alle- 
giance, and  so,  on  the  appointed  day,  the  final  proclamation 
was  issued.  The  President  had  no  legal  right  to  emanci- 
pate the  slaves  on  any  other  theory  than  that  he  was  acting 

*  These  words  are  given  by  Secretary  Chase  as  the  words  of 
Lincoln. 


44:4 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Results. 


as  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  that 
such  action  was  a  legitimate  war  measure. 

The  results  of  this  proclamation  were  of  great  impor- 
tance. It  made  it  clear  to  the  world  that  the  war  was  not 
simply  an  insurrection,  hut  that  slavery  and 
freedom  were  pitted  against  each  other ;  there- 
fore there  was  no  longer  any  fear  of  intervention  by  Eng- 
land or  France.     It  gave  the  Northern  people,  that  were 

intensely  in  earnest  against 
slavery,  new  courage  and  zeal. 
Of  course  its  great  and  lasting 
result  was  the  destruction  of 
the  whole  institution ;  for, 
though  the  proclamation  cov- 
ered not  the  whole  South,  but 
only  the  States  or  the  parts  of 
States  where  the  people  were 
in  rebellion,  the  outcome  of 
the  war  was  now  sure  to  be  the 
complete  extinction  of  slavery 
everywhere  in  the  Union. 

The  preliminary  proclama- 
tion seemed  for  a  time  to  have 
a  bad  effect  at  the  North.  There  was  great  opposition 
to  Lincoln  in  many  quarters;  and  the  elections  in  the 
autumn  of  1862  were  not  so  favorable  to  the  Eepublicans 
as  was  hoped.  There  was  a  reaction  against  the  President 
and  his  policy.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  his  party  in  the 
end  gained  strength  and  coherence  by  this  frank  opposi- 
tion to  slavery.  The  war  had  new  meaning,  and  in  the 
next  year  (18G3)  the  tide  of  success  turned  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  North.  Lincoln  at  no  time  gave  any  sign  of  regret 
or  showed  any  wish  to  waver.  He  issued  his  final  procla- 
mation on  the  first  of  January,  as  he  had  promised. 


VXO.  Q  .  ^U^U^L 


At  the  beginning  of  18G3  the  army  in  the  West  under 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-18C5. 


445 


Military  affairs. 


Rosecrans  was  near  Chattanooga.  Vicksburg  and  the  whole 
Southwest  was  in  danger,  for  the  Union  army  was  being 
pushed  vigorously  forward.  In  the  East,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  had  fought  so 
Summary.  bravely,  had  few  laurels  to  display.     The  navy 

had  shown  its  great  usefulness  under  the  command  of  able 
and  intrepid  men. 

Early  in  1863  General  Hooker  was  put  in  command  of 

the  Eastern  army.     In  May  occurred  the  battle  of  Chancel- 

lorsville,  a  few  miles  west  of  Fredericksburg. 

MaanCi8638Vme'   This  was  anotner  defeat  for  the  Union  army. 
It  was  soon  followed  by  the  removal  of  Hooker 
as  commander ;  General  Meade  was  put  in  his  place. 

As  he  had  done  the  autumn  before,  Lee  again  assumed 
the  offensive,  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  marched  north,  this 
time     even 

Gettysburg, 
July  1-3,  1863. 


into 


south- 
ern Penn- 
sylvania. The  opposing 
forces  met  at  Gettys- 
burg. There  was  fought 
one  of  the  most  stub- 
born and  bloody  battles 
of  the  century.  Lee's 
army,  flushed  with  re- 
cent victories,  and  con- 
fident of  success,  at- 
tacked the  Union  forces 
that  were  posted  in  a 
strong  position  south  of 
the  town.  In  spite  of 
the  desperate  valor  of 
the  Confederates,  their 
attacks  were  in  vain.  Meade  showed  talent  as  a  command- 
ing officer,  and  his  soldiers  fought  with  a  bravery  and  deter- 
mination that  was  a  match  for  the  splendid  impetuosity  of 


446 


HISTORY  OF  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 


the  Southerners.     The  Confederates  lost  over  20,000  men 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  and  the    Federal   army 

lost  23,000  out  of  their 
90,000.  The  invasion 
of  the  loyal  States  was 
a  failure,  and  Lee  never 
tried  it  again.  Gettys- 
burg, with  successes  in 
the  West  now  to  be  men- 
tioned, may  be  taken 
as  the  turning  point  of 
the  great  rebellion.  It 
may  be  considered,  in- 
deed, one  of  the  great 
turning  points  in  his- 
tory. From  this  mo- 
ment the  Confederacy 
languished;  the  end  of 
slavery  wasnearathand. 
Meanwhile  Grant 
had  determined  that 
Vicksburg  must  be 
taken.  He  set  patiently 
to  work  and  made  his 
preparations  with  his 
customary  care.  Gen- 
eral Pemberton,  commanding  the  Confederates,  endeavored 
in  vain  to  check  the  Federal  advance.  He  was  beaten  and 
outgeneraled,  and  soon  found  himself  cooped  up  within  the 
town.  Assaults  upon  the  works  were  made  by  the  Union 
army,  but  to  no  avail.  Grant  therefore  determined  to  lay 
regular  siege  to  the  place.      The  town  was 

Vicksburg,         hemmed  in  and  starvation  soon  threatened  it. 
July  4,  1863. 

On  July  4  the  stars  and  stripes  floated  over 

the  defenses  of  Vicksburg.     The  Mississippi  was  open  ;  "  the 

Father  of  Waters  rolled  unvexed  to  the  sea."     Grant  had 


Siege  of  Vickkburg. 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


447 


carried  on  a  vigorous,  daring,  and  offensive  campaign.  He 
had  held  his  army  well  in  hand,  and  had  taken  every  ad- 
vantage of  the  enemy.  His  success,  coming  with  the  vic- 
tory at  Gettysburg,  lightened  the  hearts  of  the  Northern 
people. 

We  left  Rosecrans  facing  Bragg,  who  had  taken  a  posi- 
tion not  far  from  Chattanooga  at  the  beginning  of  1863. 
They  faced  each  other  for  some  months.     In 

Chickamauga,  ■* 

September,  the  course  of    the  summer  the  Confederates 

1863.  were  maneuvered  out  of  Chattanooga,  and  the 

Federal  troops  took  possession  of  the  place.  In  September 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  fought.  The  Union  army  was 
defeated.  Complete  rout  was  saved  by  Thomas,  who  com- 
manded the  left.  From  beginning  to  end  his  troops  fought 
with  rare  constancy  and  were  superbly  handled.  At  the 
end  they  were  surrounded  on  three  sides,  but  Thomas 
never  thought  of  surrender 
or  flight.  Bragg  hurled  his 
army  against  the  solid  array 
absolutely  to  no  purpose. 
"  No  more  splendid  specta- 
cle appears  in  the  annals  of 
war  than  this  heroic  stand 
of  Thomas  in  the  midst  of 
a  routed  army.  .  .  .  Slowly 
riding  up  and  down  the 
lines,  with  unruffled  coun- 
tenance and  cheery  word,  it 
is  his  own  invincible  soul 
which  inspires  his  men  for 
the  work  they  have  to  do."  * 
When  he  got  the  opportu- 
nity, Thomas  quietly  withdrew  in  good  order,  rejoined  the 
right  and  center,  that  had  been  driven  from  the  field,  and 
the  Union  army  was  ready  again  for  the  contest.     It  re- 

*  Dodge,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Civil  War,  p.  181. 


448  HISTORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

tained  its  hold  on  Chattanooga,  and  the  Confederate  army 
desired  to  get  the  place.  The  situation  was  exactly  the  op- 
posite from  what  it  had  been  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

Grant  now  took  command  of  the  Army  at  Chattanooga, 

and  with  his  usual  energy  began  at  once  to  operate  against 

the  enemy.     The   Confederates  under  Bragg 

Chattanooga,  J  .  ,  OD 

November  were  strongly  posted  m  a  seemingly  lmpreg- 

23-25, 1863.  nable  position  on  high  ground  south  and  east 
of  the  city.  Grant  gave  Sherman  command  of  the  left, 
Thomas  of  the  center,  and  Hooker  of  the  right.  The  battle 
was  marked  by  brilliant  generalship  and  magnificent  fight- 
ing. Sherman  pushed  eastward  and  then  south  against  Mis- 
sionary Eidge.  Hooker's  men  fought  the  wonderful  battle 
above  the  clouds  on  Lookout  Mountain.  They  took  the 
position  and  forced  back  the  Confederate  left.  Thomas 
was  ordered  the  second  day  to  attack  the  center.  His 
troops  were  eager.  They  seized  the  lower  earthworks,  and 
then,  breaking  away  from  orders,  with  cheer  upon  cheer 
they  charged  up  the  slope  under  murderous  fire  and  on  to 
the  very  mouths  of  the  enemy's  guns.*  They  swept  the 
Confederates  from  their  works.  The  field  was  won.  One 
may  look  in  history  in  vain  for  anything  more  glorious  in 
war,  more  dashing  and  brilliant,  than  the  charge  up  Mis- 
sionary Eidge,  November  25, 1863. 

We  need  to  turn  our  attention  for  a  moment  to  the 
business  condition  of  the  country  and  notice  what  was 
being  done  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  war. 
Political  affairs.  The  outbreak  of  hostilities  brought  great  dis- 
order to  the  North  ;  trade  was  paralyzed.  Men  found  their 
usual  sources  of  income  cut  off,  and  many  seemed  to  face 

*  "  The  slopes  are  hard  to  climb ;  strength  and  ardor  are  not  the 
same  in  all  the  assailants.  But  if  the  ways  differ  somewhat,  there  are 
seen  no  laggards  among  them.  The  boldest  of  them  gathered  around 
the  flags,  each  of  which  they  passed  from  hand  to  hand  as  fast  as  one 
pays  with  his  life  for  the  honor  of  holding  it  a  moment."  (History  of 
the  Civil  War  in  America,  by  the  Comte  de  Paris,  vol.  iv,  p.  300.) 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  449 

privations  who  had  heretofore  not  known  want.  But  the 
courage  of  the  people  rose  in  the  midst  of  need  and  hard- 
ship, and  they  entered  with  prodigious  energy 
Commeroial  upon  the  task  of  supplying  their  immense  army 
with  the  sinews  of  war.  They  economized  in 
order  to  lend  their  means  to  the  Government,  and  they  met 
the  heavy  taxes  with  cheerfulness.  Business  soon  revived, 
the  heavy  tariff  dues  that  were  laid  stimulated  manufac- 
turing, and  the  very  destruction  of  property,  while  it  meant 
a  real  loss  of  wealth,  made  for  the  time,  at  least,  a  de- 
mand for  work.  The  busy  wheels  of  industry  were  soon 
whirling  at  the  North.  There  was  no  languor  and  little 
repining. 

The  Government  devised  various  plans  of  raising  the 

requisite  funds.     In  August  of  18G1  a  higher  tariff  law  was 

passed.     In  this  year  about  $150,000,000  were 

e  green  ac  s.    Dorrowed  Dy  ^ne  gaje  0f  interest-bearing  bonds. 

In  February,  18G2,  an  extreme  measure  was  adopted.  This 
was  a  bill  providing  for  the  issue  of  paper  currency — the 
so-called  "  greenbacks."  These  pieces  of  paper  were  made 
legal  tender ;  in  other  words,  persons  were  obliged  to  accept 
them  as  the  equivalent  of  money  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
business.  Of  course  this  paper  rapidly  depreciated.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  next  year  a  dollar  in  gold  was  worth  a 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  in  paper.  In  1864  the  premium  on 
gold  was  still  higher,  reaching  two  dollars  and  eighty-five 
cents  in  July  of  that  year.  The  depreciation  of  the  paper 
meant  the  rise  in  the  price  of  commodities. 

A  year  after  the  passage  of  the  Legal  Tender  Act  Con- 
gress  passed    the    National   Bank   Act.      This  was  later 

somewhat  altered,  but  has  in  its  essentials  re- 
National  Bank     mained  in  force  to  this   day      It  made  pro. 

vision  for  the  issue  of  circulating  notes  by 
banking  associations  throughout  the  country  that  were 
organized  in  conformity  to  law.  United  States  bonds  were 
to  be  purchased  by  the  banks  and  deposited  with  the  Gov- 


450  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ernment ;  the  bank  so  purchasing  was  then  entitled  to  re- 
ceive and  circulate  notes  to  the  value  of  ninety  per  cent  of 
the  bonds  deposited.  The  notes  were  guaranteed  by  the 
Government,  which  had  the  bonds  for  its  security.  For 
over  twenty  years  the  State  banks  had  furnished  the  paper 
currency  of  the  country.  Their  notes  circulated  widely. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  in  1861  there  were  as  many  as 
ten  thousand  different  kinds  of  notes  in  circulation.  Nat- 
urally such  a  condition  had  brought  great  confusion  into 
commercial  transactions,  because  some  of  these  notes  were 
valueless,  or  nearly  so,  while  others  were  good  for  their  face 
value.  By  the  establishment  of  the  national  banking  sys- 
tem a  real  national  currency,  backed  by  the  credit  of  the 
Government,  was  given  to  the  country.  Moreover,  as  asso- 
ciations were  formed  to  take  advantage  of  this  act,  there 
came  a  demand  for  bonds,  and  this  helped  the  credit  of  the 
Government,  which  was  thus  enabled  to  dispose  of  its  bonds 
on  the  market  at  better  figures.  About  two  years  later, 
1865,  Congress  passed  a  law  levying  on  the  issue  of  State 
banks  a  tax  so  high  that  it  drove  their  notes  out  of  circula- 
tion. 

The   Government  needed  to  use   every  expedient  for 
raising  money.     The  war  was  being  conducted  on  such  a 

gigantic  scale  that  the  expenses  were  enormous. 

In  addition  to  a  direct  tax  which  was  appor- 
tioned among  the  States,  a  system  of  excise  or  internal 
revenue  was  established.  Before  the  end  of  the  war  these 
internal  revenue  taxes  were  very  burdensome.  All  sorts  of 
articles  were  taxed.  Every  branch  of  trade  or  industry  was 
called  upon  to  bear  its  part  of  the  burden.  The  people 
paid  with  a  willingness  that  is  surprising.  "  No  other  na- 
tion," said  a  leading  English  paper,  "  would  have  endured 
a  system  of  excise  duties  so  searching,  so  effective,  so 
troublesome."  When  admiring  the  loyal  bravery  of  the 
men  who  went  to  the  front  to  fight,  we  need  not  forget 
the  steadfast  patriotism  of  the  men  who  stayed  at  home 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  451 

and  supported  the  Government  with  unflinching  and  un- 
grudging readiness. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  armies  were  filled  by 
volunteers ;  but  in  the  early  part  of  1863  it  seemed  neces- 
sary to  resort  to  other  means  of  obtaining  the 
The  draft,  needed  troops.     The  year  1862,  it  will  be  re- 

membered, was  not  a  very  successful  one  in 
the  field,  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  great  body  of  the 
Northern  people  bore  their  burdens  bravely  and  were  will- 
ing to  support  the  war  courageously,  there  was  a  goodly 
number  of  fault-finders,  who  pointed  to  each  defeat  of  the 
Union  forces  as  a  proof  that  the  South  could  never  be  con- 
quered. Under  such  dispiriting  influences  voluntary  en- 
listments nearly  ceased.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
people  had  lost  all  enthusiasm  and  loyalty ;  but  they  felt, 
and  justly  so,  that  the  Government  should  undertake  to 
get  men  and  money  in  the  systematic,  businesslike  fashion 
in  which  other  Governments  were  accustomed  to  provide 
themselves,  and  not  simply  to  rely  upon  popular  enthu- 
siasm; for  the  result  of  such  reliance  must  be  that  the 
more  generous  and  loyal  would  feel  the  duty  of  enlisting, 
while  those  who  were  selfish  and  critical  would  content 
themselves  with  fault-finding.  An  act  was  therefore  passed 
providing  for  "enrolling  and  calling  out  the  national 
forces."  Able-bodied  men  between  twenty  and  forty-five 
were  to  be  enrolled.  A  certain  number  of  soldiers  were  to 
be  called  for,  in  the  future,  from  each  congressional  dis- 
trict, and  when  the  quota  of  a  given  district  was  not  filled 
by  volunteers,  drafts  were  to  be  made  from  the  enrolled 
citizens.  There  was  much  opposition  to  this  act.  In  July 
a  riot  broke  out  in  New  York  city,  which  for  four  days  was 
almost  completely  at  the  mercy  of  a  frenzied 
Kg?  mob.    Officers  of  the  law  and  innocent  citizens 

were  killed ;  negroes  were  set  upon  and  slain  ; 
property  was  ruthlessly  burned.  Troops  were  sent  to  the 
city  by  the  National  Government,  and  the  rioting  was  put 


452  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

down  with  relentless  energy.  Over  a  thousand  of  the 
rioters  were  killed  before  order  was  completely  restored. 

Early  in  1864  Grant  was  made  Lieutenant  General  and 

given  command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United   States. 

He  determined  to  conduct  the  war  in  the  East 

himself,  and  to  leave  the  general  charge  in  the 

West  to  his  tried  friend  and  able  assistant,  Sherman. 

Grant  now  entered  upon  his  "hammering  campaign." 

He  decided  to  keep  working  steadily  forward  to  Richmond. 

Lee  was  at  Orange.     The  Union  forces  were 

campaign,  near  Culpeper.     Grant  pushed  southeast,  and 

1864.  was  attacked  by  Lee  in  the  Wilderness,*  near 

where  Hooker  met  such  disasters  the  year  before.     The 

Confederates  knew  the  ground  well,  but  the  region  was 

unknown  to  Grant,  who  nevertheless  did  not  become  con- 

o  ..,  **.  fused  or  lose  command  of  the  situation.  The 
Battle  of  the  .  .  ,  •.,-,,  i     n      •  t 

Wilderness,  battle  was  indecisive,  and  the  loss  on  both  sides 
May  5-9, 1864.  was  enormous.  Not  far  from  eighteen  thou- 
sand Union  men  fell,  and  eleven  thousand  Confederates. 
In  comparison  with  such  a  struggle  many  of  the  famous 
battles  of  the  Old  World's  history  were  mere  skirmishes. 
Grant,  in  spite  of  this  terrible  ordeal  of  fire,  ordered  his  army 
forward  by  the  left  to  Spottsylvania.  General  Sherman  says  : 
"  That  was,  in  my  judgment,  the  supreme  moment  of  his 
life.  Undismayed,  with  a  full  comprehension  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  feeling  as  keen 
Spottsylvania,  a  symPathy  f°r  his  dead  and  wounded  as  any 
May  9-20,  one,  and  without  stopping  to  count  his  num- 

1864,  bers,  he  gave   his   orders   calmly,  specifically, 

and  absolutely — *  Forward  to  Spottsylvania.' "  Another 
fierce  contest  ensued.  Grant,  with  his  usual  stubborn 
vigor,  tried  his  hammering  with  some  success.     Again  the 

*  A  low  forest  or  thicket  of  undergrowth  and  second  growth  trees 
extending  for  miles,  and  intersected  by  a  few  roads  by  which  troops 
could  be  moved.    See  map,  p.  423. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   LINCOLN— 186-1-1865. 


453 


Union  army  suffered  heavy  loss;  but  the  North  and  the 
army  realized  that  a  general  was  in  command  who  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  fight  the  war  to  a  finish. 


After  a  struggle  of  about  two  weeks  the  attacks  upon  Lee's 
position  were  given  up  and  the  Federal  troops  were  ordered 

Movement  by  to  marcn  Dy  tne  left  straight  to  Richmond. 
the  left  toward  Finally  the  two  armies  were  pitted  against  each 
Richmond.  other  at  Cold  Harbor.  The  Union  forces  were 
now  dangerously  near  Richmond,  not  far  from  the  point 
reached  by  McClellan  in  his  peninsula  campaign  two  years 
before.     Lee  was  here  securely  posted.     His  numbers  were 


454  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

inferior  to  Grant's,  but  he  had  the  advantage  of  acting  on  the 

defensive.     Grant  determined  upon  assault,  for  he  knew  the 

North  at  the  beginning  of  a  presidential  campaign  needed 

the  encouragement  of  a  victory,  and  he  still 

Cold  Harbor,       believed  that  hammering  would  be  effectual. 
June  3, 1864,  °  . 

The  charge  of  the  eager  troops  was  glorious, 
but  the  slaughter  was  terrific.  With  all  their  valor  they 
could  not  drive  the  veteran  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
from  its  well-defended  position. 

So  far  Grant  had  acted  upon  the  furiously  offensive. 
Lee,  with  a  caution  he  had  not  thought  necessary  against 

his  previous  opponents,  had  been  acting  on 
Grant  moves       th     defensive.     Grant,   by   a   series    of    flank 

to  Petersburg  i 

movements,  had  pushed  south  and  east  until 
he  had  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Richmond.  Now,  re- 
pulsed at  Cold  Harbor,  but  not  beaten — for  he  did  not  know 
how  to  be  beaten — he  determined  to  shift  his  position  some- 
what, as  McClellan  had  done,  and  with  great  skill  threw  a 
large  portion  of  his  troops  across  the  James  and  settled  down 
opposite  Petersburg,  a  strategic  point  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance, inasmuch  as  it  protected  the  communications  of 
Richmond.  Lee  moved  to  defend  his  position.  An  assault 
by  the  Union  army  resulted  in  taking  the  outer  works  at  a 
great    sacrifice,   but    it   was   apparent   that   direct   attack 

would  not  do.  The  army  settled  down  to  in- 
aud  lays  siege,  vest  the  place.  So  far  the  losses  of  the  Army 
June,  1864.  of  ^e  p0tomac  had  been  very  great,  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  sixty  thousand  men,  since  the  opening  of  the 
campaign. 

The  investment  of  Petersburg  amounted  to  an  invest- 
ment of  Richmond  itself.     Grant  was  determined  to  keep 

his  troops  active  and  to  wear  out  his  opponent 

by  successive  blows.  He  desired  to  get  round 
the  end  of  Lee's  army  and  to  cut  off  his  communications. 
This  he  tried  to  do  by  extended  cavalry  raids,  which  were 
executed  with  great  vigor  and  daring. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


455 


Earlier  in  the  summer  General  Sheridan,  with  a  picked 

command,  had  ridden  completely  around  Lee's  army,  and 

had  even  passed  the  outer  works  of  Eichmond. 

Shenandolh  He  was  later  (August>  1864)  directed  to  take 
Valley,  August  charge  of  affairs  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
^ctober,  General  Early,  a  Confederate  cavalry  leader  of 
great  boldness,  after  having  been  within  sight 
of  Washington,  had  re- 
tired up  the  valley.  Now 
began  an  entertaining 
game  of  war.  Sheridan 
had  Grant's  authority  "  to 
push  things  hard,"  and  he 
did  so.  By  the  end  of  the 
summer,  after  a  series  of 
successful  conflicts,  he 
had  the  whole  valley  at  his 
mercy.  It  was  devastated 
with  relentless  thorough- 
ness. It  could  no  more 
be  a  highway  for  those  an- 
noying raids  which  had 
frightened  the  adminis- 
tration at  Washington,  and  had  such  a  demoralizing  effect 
on  the  courage  and  hopefulness  of  the  North.  It  was  no 
longer  a  granary  for  the  Confederate  forces.  In  October 
n  3    n    i.       occurred  the  famous  battle   of   Cedar   Creek. 

Cedar  Creek,  ._,__.- 

October  19,         Early   surprised  the   Union  forces  and  vehe- 
1864.  mently  attacked  them  during   Sheridan's  ab- 

sence. They  had  begun  to  retreat,  and,  though  reforming 
was  going  on  and  the  day  was  not  wholly  lost,  there  was 
danger  of  complete  defeat,  when  Sheridan  rode  upon  the 
field,  and  by  his  magnetic  presence  cheered  the  troops  to 
renewed  effort.  He  rode  back  at  full  gallop,  calling  out  to 
the  straggling  fugitives  :  "  Face  the  other  way,  boys  !  We 
are  going  back  to  our  camps !  We  are  going  to  lick  them 
30 


(^X^L^'c 


CC  Cttl^* 


456 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


out  of  their  boots ! "     And  so  they  did.     They  made  a  bold 
counter  attack  and  overwhelmed  the  enemy. 

Up  to  this  time  Mobile  had  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  Confederates.     It  was  an  important  point.     The  task 

of  blockading  it  effectually  had  proved  prac- 
Aifust  1864.     tically  impossible.     In  1864  it  was  the   one 

opening  through  which  cotton  could  be  ex- 
ported or  the  much-needed  supplies  brought  in  to  sustain 
the  languishing  Confederacy.  The  harbor  was  strongly  de- 
fended, but  Farragut  determined  to  lead  his  ships  by  the 
forts,  attack  the  fleet  inside,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  land 
force,  capture  the  place  and  its  defenses.  This  plan  was 
successfully  carried  out.  Farragut,  lashed  to  the  rigging 
of  the  flagship,  where  he  could  see  all  that  was  going  on, 


The  Confederate  Ram  Tennessee. 
From  the  working  drawings  in  the  Confederate  Collection  at  Washington. 

directed  the  movement  of  his  vessels.  The  Confederate 
fleet  was  beaten  and  the  forts  captured.  The  capture  of 
Mobile  sealed  up  the  whole  South.  An  occasional  blockade 
runner  might  creep  in,  or  supplies  might  be  dragged  across 
the  plains  from  Mexico,  but  from  now  on  the  South  was 
almost  completely  thrown  on  its  own  resources. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  war  several  vessels  were  fitted 
out  in  England  for  the  use  of  the  Confederate  government. 
Our  minister  at  London,  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  called  the  attention  of  the  English 
Government  to  the  fact  that  these  vessels  were  building, 
and  asked  that  they  be  not  allowed  to  leave  the  harbor. 
Attention  was  specially  called  to  a  ship  known  as-the  "  290." 
The    government,   however,   did   not    intervene,   and    the 


The  Alabama. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.         457 

"  290  "  got  safely  off  to  sea.  She  then  assumed  the  name 
Alabama,  and  began,  as  a  privateer,  to  prey  upon  American 
commerce.  She  was  a  fast  sailer,  well  armed  and  strong, 
and  she  did  immense  damage,  capturing  and  burning  North- 
ern merchantmen.  There  were  other  vessels  of  the  same 
kind,  but  because  of  her  exceptional  success  the  Alabama 
was  especially  famous.  In  June,  1864,  a  battle  was  fought 
off  Cherbourg,  France,  between  this  Confederate  cruiser 
and  the  United  States  ship  Kearsarge.  The 
Fight  with  the    ^wo  vesseis  Were  of  about  equal  size  and  arma- 

Kearsarge.  u 

ment.  The  contest  was  of  short  duration. 
The  Kearsarge  was  superbly  handled,  and  her  fire  was  de- 
liberate and  destructive.  At  the  end  of  an  hour  the  Ala- 
bama was  totally  disabled  and  struck  her  colors.  Before 
her  crew  could  be  taken  from  her  she  sank  to  the  bottom 
of  the  English  Channel.  Her  captain  and  some  of  her  men 
were  taken  on  board  an  English  vessel  and  thus  escaped 
capture. 

During  the  career  of  the  Alabama  she  had  destroyed  as 
many  as  sixty-three  merchantmen.  Other  vessels  of  the 
same  sort,  especially  the  Florida  and  the 
Protest  of  the  Georgia,  had  likewise  done  much  damage. 
Our  Government  filed  its  strenuous  protest 
with  the  English  Government,  asserting  that  these  vessels 
ought  to  have  been  kept  from  going  to  sea  when  it  was 
well  known  for  what  purpose  they  were  being  fitted  out. 
The  warnings  of  the  United  States  Government  are  summed 
up  in  the  following  words  from  Secretary  Seward's  dispatch 
to  Mr.  Adams  :  "  Upon  these  principles  of  law  and  these 
assumptions  of  fact,  the  United  States  do  insist,  and  must 
continue  to  insist,  that  the  British  Government  is  justly 
responsible  for  the  damages  which  the  peaceful,  law-abiding 
citizens  of  the  United  States  sustain  by  the  depredations 
of  the  Alabama." 

During  the  summer  of  1864  a  very  active  campaign 
was  fought  in  the  West.     Sherman  was  in  command  there 


458  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

with  a  stalwart  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  men.     The 

troops  lay  just  south  of   Chattanooga  facing  the  Confed- 

.     .         erates,  who,  under  General  Johnston,  were  at 

Campaign  in  .  __ 

the  West.  Dalton,  Georgia.     Sherman  succeeded  in  deft- 

Jnne,  1864.  \y  maneuvering  the  Confederates  out  of  their 
position,  and,  without  direct  battle,  forced  them  back. 
In  the  neighborhood  of  Marietta,  in  the  latter  half  of  June, 
there  was  a  series  of  fierce  con- 
tests, and  the  Union  forces  were 
successful.  The  Confederates  were 
beaten  back,  but  succeeded  at  last 
in  repulsing  a  gallant  charge  at 
Kenesaw  Mountain.  By  the  mid- 
dle of  July,  Johnston  reached  At- 
lanta, having  conducted  his  orderly 
retreat  in  a  masterly  manner  that 
tested  all  Sherman's  skill  and 
prowess.  Hood  was  now  put  in 
command,  because  the  Confederate 
president  demanded  an  aggressive 
policy.  A  number  of  minor  battles  took  place  about  At- 
lanta. Only  a  part  of  the  troops  on  either  side  were  en- 
Atlant  f  11  gaSe(l  at  any  one  time ;  but  the  Union  army 
September,  was  uniformly  successful,  the  men  fighting  like 
1864.  toughened  veterans.    In  September  Hood  aban- 

doned Atlanta,  and  the  Northern  troops  marched  in. 

Sherman  was  still  in  a  dangerous  position.     He  had  to 
depend   upon   supplies   brought   a  long  distance.      Hood, 
thinking  to  frighten  Sherman  out  of  his  well-earned  posi- 
tion, moved  north  to  threaten  his  communica- 

The i  march  tions ;  but  the  plan  was  not  successful.     Sher- 

to  the  sea. 

man    concluded    that    with    re  -  enforcements 

Thomas  could  take  care  of  Hood,  and  he  himself  made 

ready  for  his  famous  march  to  the  sea.*     He  cut  loose  from 

*  The  marches  to  Augusta,  Andersonville,  and  Aiken  were  made  by 
the  cavalry.    See  the  accompanying  map. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


459 


his  base  of  supplies  and  marched  across  Georgia.  "  These 
troops  numbered  over  sixty  thousand  rugged  veterans, 
unhampered  by  sick  or  off-duty  men,  with  twenty  days' 
rations,  plenty  of  beef  on  the  hoof,  about  one  field  gun 
per  thousand  effectives,  and  an  excellent  canvas  pontoon 
train."  *  Early  in  December  he  appeared  before  Savan- 
nah, and  it  was  evacuated  shortly  after,  f 

This  great  march  through  the  very  heart  of  the  Confed- 
eracy was  proof  positive  that  the  rebellion  could  last  but 
a  few  months  longer  at  the 
best.  Sherman  had  disap- 
peared in  the  heart  of 
Georgia,  and  when  he  re- 
appeared at  Savannah  a 
great  load  was  taken  from 
the  anxious  hearts  of  the 
North.  Grant  wrote  him  : 
"  I  never  had  a  doubt  of 
the  result.  When  appre- 
hensions for  your  safety 
were  expressed  by  the 
President,  I  assured  him 
with  the  army  you  had, 
and  you  in  command  of 
it,  there  was  no  danger, 
but  you  would  strike  bottom  on  salt  water  some  place."  \ 


y^f2L^ 


*  Dodge,  p.  287. 

f  December  22d,  Sherman  sent  Lincoln  the  following  dispatch 
(Sherman's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii,  p.  231) : 

Savannah,  Ga.,  December  22,  186h. 
To  His  Excellency,  President  Lincoln,  Washington,  D.  C. : 

I  beg  to  present  you  as  a  Christmas  gift  the  city  of  Savannah,  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty  of  ammunition  ;  also  about 
twenty-five  thousand  bales  of  cotton. 

W.  T.  Sherman,  Major  General. 

%  Sherman,  Memoirs,  vol.  ii,  p.  223. 


4  GO  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Meanwhile  Thomas  had  been  playing  a  skillful  game 
with   Hood,  whom   Sherman  had  boldly  left  in   his   rear. 

Hood,  venturesome  and  aggressive,  marched  to 
Tnoi£as  the  North  against  Thomas,  whose  main  position 

was  at  Nashville.  Thomas  was  cautious  and 
wary.  Spite  of  orders  from  Washington  and  demands  from 
Grant  that  an  advance  be  made,  Thomas  took  all  the  time 

he  wished  to  make  complete  preparations  and 
December,  to  put  his  forces  in  full  readiness  for  battle. 

1864:1  He  then  turned  upon  Hood  and  crushed  him.* 

The  rebellion  was  practically  over  in  the  West. 

Political  as  well  as  military  difficulties  surrounded  the 
President  in  the  summer  of  18G4.    One  would  think  that  the 
task  of  carrying  on  this  great  war  was  enough 
Political  without  other  cares  or  responsibilities,  especially 

during  these  dreadful  months,  when  the  Union 
forces  were  indeed  pushing  on  to  victory,  but  at  a  fearful 
cost  in  blood  and  treasure.  Though  it  was  clear  that  under 
Grant's  terrific  blows  the  Confederacy  could  not  last  much 
longer,  Lincoln  was  surrounded  by  unfriendly 
Lincoln's  critics.     Some  of  the  public  men  of  the  Presi- 

dent's own  party  were  opposed  to  him,  and  some 
were  making  plans  to  defeat  him  in  the  coming  election. 
All  through  his  term  he  had  been  troubled  and  harassed  by 
political  squabbles  and  quarrels,  but  in  the  spring  and  early 
summer  of  18G4  there  were  new  dangers  and  annoyances. 

Even  Secretary  Chase  had  for  a  time  been  nursing  presi- 
dential ambitions,  and  his  candidacy  was  urged  by  many  of 

*  Thomas  was  a  Virginian,  but  refused  to  follow  his  State  into  re- 
bellion. He  was  one  of  the  most  successful  generals  of  the  war,  shrewd, 
careful,  thorough.  He  knew  not  defeat,  and  always  fought  with  the 
utmost  coolness,  precision,  and  energy.  He  was  modest  and  unpresura- 
ing,  yet  few  were  so  competent  to  command.  Dodge  says :  "  He  perhaps 
falls  as  little  short  of  the  model  soldier  as  any  man  produced  by  this 
country." 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 


461 


Lincoln's  opponents.     It  was  soon  proved  that  Lincoln  had 
the  people  behind  him.     They  sympathized  with  him  and 

felt  his  worth.  Chase  saw,  before  long,  that 
ase  re81gn8,  his  candidacy  was  hopeless.  He  was  doubtless 
ambitious,  but  he  can  not  be  charged  with  duplicity  or 
underhand  dealing.  His  relations  with  the  President,  how- 
ever, became  so  strained  that  he  gave  up  his  secretaryship. 
William  Pitt  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  was  put  in  his  place,  and 
proved  a  very  able  and  efficient  officer. 

In  May  a  "  mass  convention  "  assembled  at  Cleveland. 
It  was  made  up  of  the  fault-finders  who  were  out  of  all  pa- 
tience with  what  they  consid- 
ered  Lincoln's  lack  of   vigor 

and  administrative 

Fremont  power.      The     COn- 

nominated.  *         . 

vention  nominated 
John  C.  Fremont  for  the  presi- 
dency, and  John  Cochrane  for 
the  vice-presidency.  But  the 
movement  was  not  taken  seri- 
ously by  the  people,  and  Fre- 
mont finally  withdrew,  deliv- 
ering as  a  parting  shot  the 
assertion  that  Lincoln's  ad- 
ministration was  "politically, 
militarily,  and  financially  a 
failure." 

When  the  Republican  Convention  met  there  was  not 
the  slightest  doubt  of  Lincoln's  nomination.  The  Union 
people  of  the  whole  North,  in  a  great  many 
different  ways,  had  announced  in  unmistakable 
language  that  he  was  their  only  choice.  He 
was  nominated  unanimously  on  the  first  ballot.*  Thus  the 
fault-finding   of   ambitious   and   quarrelsome   leaders  and 

*  The  Missouri  delegation  voted  for  Grant,  but  changed  this  vote  so 
that  Lincoln  could  be  nominated  unanimously. 


Lincoln 
renominated 


462  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

critical  newspapers  was  of  absolutely  no  avail  before  the 
wish  of  the  nation.  There  was  some  trouble  in  choosing 
the  vice-president.  It  was  felt  by  many  that  it  would  be 
the  part  of  wisdom  to  nominate  a  war  Democrat — some  one 
who  had  belonged  to  the  Democratic  party  before  the  war, 
but  who  was  now  working  in  harmony  with  the  Republicans. 
Because  of  this  feeling  Hannibal  Hamlin  was  not  renomi- 
nated, and  the  choice  of  the  convention  fell  upon  Andrew 
Johnson,  of  Tennessee.  A  platform  was  adopted  declaring 
in  favor  of  the  complete  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and 
announcing  "  that  as  slavery  was  the  cause  and  now  con- 
stitutes the  strength  of  this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be 
always  and  everywhere  hostile  to  the  principles  of  republi- 
can government,  justice  and  the  national  safety  demand 
its  utter  and  complete  extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the 
republic." 

The  Democratic  party  nominated  Gen.  George  B.  Mc- 

Clellan  for  the  presidency,  and  George  IL  Pendleton,  of 

Ohio,  for  the  vice-presidency.     The  convention 

McClellan  demanded  that  "immediate  efforts  be  made 

nominated. 

for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  with  a  view  to  an 
ultimate  convention  of  all  the  States,  or  other  peaceable 
means,  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment 
peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  union  of 
the  States."  The  war  was  declared  a  failure,  and  various 
acts  of  the  President  were  denounced  as  usurpation  "of 
extraordinary  and  dangerous  powers  not  granted  by  the 
Constitution." 

The  presidential  campaign  was  a  very  earnest  and 
serious  contest.  The  Republicans  felt  that  everything  was 
at  stake  and  put  forth  every  endeavor,  while 
the  Democrats  were  more  successful  in  holding 
their  forces  together  than  might  have  been  expected — a 
result  due  in  large  part  to  the  fact  that  McClellan  partly 
repudiated  the  platform  by  announcing  himself  in  favor  of 
peace,  but  only  on  terms  that  would  preserve  the  Union. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  463 

While  the  political  discussions  were  in  progress  at  the 
North,  Sherman  won  his  great  victory  over  Hood  at 
Atlanta.  Under  such  circumstances  the  declaration  that 
the  war  was  a  failure  lost  much  of  its  force.  Sherman's 
telegram,  "  Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won,"  gave  new 
courage  and  great  joy  to  the  supporters  of  the  Administra- 
tion. Lincoln  was  elected  by  a  large  electoral  majority, 
receiving  two  hundred  and  twelve  votes  against  twenty-one 
for  his  opponent.  The  Democrats  carried  only  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  and  Kentucky. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion declared  free  all  slaves  within  those  parts  of  the 
Thirteenth  South  then  in  open  rebellion.  This  was  con- 
amendment         fessedly  a  war  measure — like  any  other  confisca- 

in  Congress.  tion    of   property)   an   act    Qf  war#      It   did   not 

destroy  slavery  in  the  States  not  in  rebellion.  Moreover, 
some  persons  believed  that  the  President  had  exceeded  his 
authority  in  issuing  such  a  proclamation.  In  the  early 
part  of  1864  a  vote  on  the  question  of  submitting  a  consti- 
tutional amendment  abolishing  slavery  everywhere  was 
taken  in  Congress.  The  necessary  two-thirds  vote  could 
not  be  secured  in  the  House,  though  the  Senate  passed  the 
measure  by  a  large  majority.  After  the  election,  carried 
by  the  Republicans  on  a  distinctly  anti-slavery  platform, 
abolition  assumed  new  strength.  The  President  in  his 
annual  message  advocated  the  adoption  of  the  amendment. 
A  great  debate  in  the  House  followed.  The  vote  was  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  ayes  to  fifty-six  noes — seven  more 
than  the  required  two  thirds.  In  the  homely,  truthful 
phrase  of  Lincoln,  the  "  great  job  "  was  ended. 

It  was  still  necessary  that  three  fourths  of  the  States 
should  ratify.*  But  this  ratification  was  assured.  This 
amendment  declared  that  "  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 

*  This  was  done  in  the  course  of  the  year.  In  December,  1865,  a 
proclamation  was  issued  declaring  that  the  thirteenth  amendment  was 
added  to  the  Constitution. 


464  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly   convicted,  shall  exist   within 
the  United  States  or  any  place  subject  to  their 
Adopted  in  jurisdiction."     Thus  the  principle  of  the  ordi- 

nance of  1787  was,  in  almost  the  exact  words  of 
that  document,  made  applicable  to  the  whole  Union ;  the 
great  curse  that  had  separated  the  American  people  into 
two  bitterly  hostile  sections  was  to  be  cast  aside  for  ever. 
The  hopes  of  the  future  were  for  reorganization,  a  re-estab- 
lishment of  sympathy  and  fellow-feeling  between  North 
and  South,  now  that  the  cause  of  enmity  and  division  was 
no  more.  As  Lincoln  pointed  out,  the  amendment  meant 
the  "  maintenance  "  of  the  Union. 


In  giving  this   account  of  political  matters  we  have 

passed  by  the  military  events  of  the  winter  and  spring  of 

1865,  events  which  made  abolition  of  slavery 

Military  affairs,  , ,  ,  T  .  a  ,       Q, 

more  than  words.  Leaving  Savannah,  Sher- 
man marched  north  through  the  Carolinas,  harassed  but 
not  long  retarded  by  the  Confederates  under  Johnston. 
Grant  still  held  Lee  at  Eichmond  and  Petersburg.  The 
end  was  evidently  near  at  hand.  March  saw  some  sharp 
fighting  along  the  line ;  but  the  Confederates  were  daily 

growing  weaker,  and  Lee  was  getting  anxious 
Lee  and  Grant.  r.i  ij.  i  j.-l         j        j  £ 

to  break  away  and  to  push  southward  and  form 

a  junction  with  Johnston.      If   this  were  done,  Sherman 

might  perhaps  be  crushed  before  Grant  could  get  to  his 

support.     Grant  watched  Lee  with  caution  and  anxiety.    A 

few  severe  and  bloody  engagements  occurred,  but  without 

bringing  the  end.     Grant  handled  his  immense  army  with 

great  ability,  and  with  full  comprehension  of  his  task.     Lee 

fought  with  desperation  and  his  accustomed  skill.     The 

Union  army  was  steadily  winding  itself  more  closely  about 

the  doomed  Confederate  army  and  capital.     Grant  guarded 

Lee  cautiously,  lest  he  disappear  to  the  South  or  West  and 

leave  but  empty  defences  behind  him. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  465 

At  length  Leo  slipped  away  in  the  night  (April  2,  3). 

Grant  entered  Richmond  and  began  a  hot  pursuit.     The 

ragged,  starving,  brave,  disheartened  Confed- 

Lee  surrenders,    erates  made  their  way  westward,  harassed  at 

April  9,  1865.  .         .        .,  '      .  ,  TJ,    . , 

every  step  by  the  pursuing  cavalry,  it  they 
were  to  escape  at  all,  it  must  be  by  the  narrow  strip  of  land 
between  the  Appomattox  and  James  rivers.*  But  Sheridan 
planted  himself  in  the  way.  Lee  was  surrounded.  On  the 
9th  of  April  he  surrendered.  Grant  gave  generous  and 
wise  terms.  The  Confederates  were  released  on  parole, 
"  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  until  properly  exchanged";  the  officers  and  men 
were  to  return  to  their  homes,  "  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
United  States  authority  so  long  as  they  observe  their 
paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  reside."  This 
last  statement  looked  like  an  assumption  of  the  pardoning 
power  by  Grant ;  but  its  generosity,  coming  from  a  victori- 
ous general  on  the  field  of  battle,  merits  unstinted  praise, 
and  it  had  doubtless  influence  in  pointing  out  to  the  North 
the  path  of  wise  self-restraint  in  days  of  victory  and  exulta- 
tion. Johnston  surrendered  to  Sherman  on  the  26th  of 
April. 

The  great  civil  war  was  at  an  end.     The  North  had  put 

forth  its  energy  and  crushed  all  opposition,  pouring  into  the 

field  an  army  as  large  as  the  fabulous  host  of 

^T"  Xerxes.     The  armies  of  the  East  and  the  West 

ended. 

had  fought  with  courage  and  devotion.  "  All 
that  it  was  possible  for  men  to  do  in  battle  they  have  done," 
said  Grant,  and  he  knew  whereof  he  spoke.  The  mistaken 
South,  hugging  her  pet  vice,  slavery,  as  a  viper  to  her 
bosom,  had  fought  with  a  spirit,  a  heroism,  and  a  courage 
that  tempt  us  to  forget  the  cause  and  prompt  us  only  to 
remember  that  from  Key  West  to  the  St.  Croix  all  now  are 
brethren  of  a  common  country.  Grant's  words  in  address- 
ing his  former  comrades  in  arms  are  well  chosen :  "  Let 

*  Read  Dodge,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Civil  War,  pp.  313-318. 


4QQ  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

them  hope  for  perpetual  peace  and  harmony  with  that 
enemy  whose  manhood,  however  mistaken  the  cause,  drew 
forth  such  herculean  deeds  of  valor." 

The  efforts  of  the  South  to  sustain  the  war  had  been 
magnificent.     We  have  seen  how  dependent  the  Southern 

people  were  on  outside  products.  There  were 
Sf°South  few  factories  of  any  kind.    The  very  arms  with 

which  to  fight  needed  to  be  smuggled  through 
the  blockade,  or,  before  the  Mississippi  was  under  Federal 
control,  wearily  brought  across  Texas  from  Mexico.  After 
the  capture  of  Mobile  the  country  was  almost  completely 
surrounded.  Occasionally  a  blockade  runner  succeeded 
in  slipping  through  the  barriers  and  bringing  in  supplies 
from  Europe ;  yet  such  accidental  aid  helped  but  little. 
The  Confederacy  was  day  by  day,  and  month  by  month, 
strangled  by  the  toils  of  the  immense  army  and  navy  that 
encompassed  it.  The  people  fought  with  desperation,  and 
yet  we  need  not  believe  that  all  were  anxious  to  enter  the 
army ;  a  year  before  the  North  resorted  to  the  draft,  the 
Confederate  congress  took  the  same  step,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  war  it  was  determined  even  to  enroll  slaves  as 
troops.  Money  was  almost  unattainable.  When  once  the 
Confederacy  was  shut  off  from  the  civilized  world,  borrow- 
ing was  practically  impossible.  Paper  money  was  issued 
by  the  million  dollars,  "  payable  six  months  after  the  close 
of  the  war."  This  paper  fell  down,  down,  as  the  prospects 
of  the  Confederacy  grew  dimmer.  In  May,  1 864,  a  clerk  in 
Richmond  entered  these  prices  in  his  diary :  "  Boots,  two 
hundred  dollars;  coats,  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars; 
pantaloons,  one  hundred  dollars ;  .  .  .  flour,  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  dollars  per  barrel ;  .  .  .  bacon,  nine  dollars 
per  pound ;  .  .  .  potatoes,  twenty-five  dollars  per  bushel ; 
.  .  .  wood,  fifty  dollars  per  cord." 

Thus  it  was  that  the  South  was  beaten — not  because 
the  people  could  not  fight,  or  because  they  were  not  willing 
to  bear  privation  and  hardships.     History,  perhaps,  shows 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  LINCOLN— 1861-1865.  467 

no  parallel  to  the  brave  constancy  of  Lee's  men  in  the  fearful 
campaign  of  1864-05,  when  they  must  have  seen  that  under 
Grant's  terrific  hammering  they  could  not  long 
defeated  endure.     The  men  who  stayed  at  home  on  the 

the  South.  plantations,   and,  above   all,  the  women — for 

they  were  the  greatest  sufferers  from  actual  want — endured 
their  trials  with  great  resolution  and  cheerfulness.  It  was 
not  lack  of  bravery,  skill,  or  determination  that  defeated 
the  South.  It  was  slavery.  While  the  lumber,  iron,  and  coal 
of  the  North  were  put  to  service  by  an  intelligent  people, 
whose  every  industrial  success  prompted  to  new  energy, 
the  South  was  laboring  under  a  destructive  system  which 
had  been  abandoned  by  every  other  part  of  the  Teutonic 
race  ;  and  the  fearful  penalty  of  slavery  was  civil  war  and 
disastrous,  overwhelming  defeat. 

The  Union  was  preserved.     The  greatest  civil  war  in 
history  determined  that  the  American  republic  must  en- 
dure ;  but  the  cost  was  enormous.     Not  count- 
The  losses  of         mg  ^e    men  w^0  ^{e^  a£  nome  as  a  result  of 
the  war. 

wounds  received  in  battle  or  exposure  in  the 
line  of  duty,  over  300,000  Northern  men  gave  up  their  lives 
for  their  country.  The  loss  of  the  South  could  have  been 
but  little  less.  From  all  causes,  the  nation  lost  nearly  a 
million  of  its  able-bodied  men. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  there  were  1,000,516  men  in  the 
Northern  army.     The  receipts  of  the   Government  by  tax- 
ation during  the  four  years  were  not  far  from 
Its  awful  ooBt.       .  J 

$800,000,000,  but  this  was  only  a  small  portion 

of  the  amount  which  was  expended.     Money  was  spent  with 

lavish  profusion.     The  total  debt  at  the  end  of  the  war  was 

$2,844,649,626.  But  one  can  not  count  the 
August,  1865.  \      V      '  „  „  ,      , 

real  cost  of  these  four  years  of  destruction,  when 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  were  taken  from  remunera- 
tive employment,  to  spend  their  energies  in  bringing  deso- 
lation and  in  killing  their  fellows.  The  North  offered  up 
a  great  sacrifice  for  union  and  for  the  perpetuation  of  the 


468  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Government.  But  the  sacrifice  of  the  South  was  greater. 
Figures  can  give  no  idea  of  what  it  cost  the  South  to  de- 
fend slavery  and  her  chosen  constitutional  principles.  She 
offered  up  her  very  life.  At  the  end  of  the  war  the  whole 
country  was  desolate.  Poverty  was  the  lot  of  men  who 
had  been  reared  in  luxury.  For  four  years  Virginia  had 
been  a  battlefield.  The  more  southern  and  western  States 
fared  but  little  better.  The  rebellion  had  been  starved  to 
death ;  and  when  the  soldiers  left  the  army  and  sought 
their  homes,  they  were  confronted  by  want  and  desolation. 
The  courage  with  which  men  took  up  their  new  lives  was 
no  less  great  than  their  bravery  in  war. 

The  immense  Union  army  of  a  million  soldiers  was  dis- 
banded.     The  men  went  quietly  back  to  the  farm,  the 
counting-house,  or  the  workshop.     Within  a 
dkbaS  few  weeks  this  huge  army  was  absorbed  back 

into  the  body  of  the  people.  There  was  no 
violence,  no  license,  no  rioting.  The  volunteer  soldier 
showed  his  sense  and  self-restraint  by  becoming  an  ordinary 
citizen  once  more. 

References. 

The  best  short  accounts  for  political  events  are  Wilson,  Division 
and  Reunion,  pp.  210-238;  Schurz,  Abraham  Lincoln;  G.  Smith, 
The  United  States,  pp.  238-280 ;  Julian,  Political  Recollections,  pp. 
181-259;  Lothrop,  Seward,  pp.  246-396;  Morse,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Volume  I,  Chapters  IX  and  XII,  Volume  II,  Chapters  I,  IV,  VI, 
IX,  XII;  Burgess,  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution;  Hart,  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  178-319;  Adams,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  117-345.  Po- 
litical events  at  the  South  :  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp. 
239-252.  For  military  events  :  Church,  U.  S.  Grant,  Chapters  V 
to  XVIII;  White,  Robert  E.  Lee;  Dodge,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the 
Civil  War;  Rossiter  Johnson,  Short  History  of  the  War  of  Secession. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Political  and  Social  Reconstruction — 1865-1877. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF   ANDREW  JOHNSON— 1865-1869. 

The  war  was  ended.     But  while  the  people  of  the  whole 

North  were  giving  themselves  up  to  joy  and  thanksgiving, 

there  came  the  awful  tidings   that  President 

The  death  of       Lincoln  had  been  assassinated.     He  was  shot 

Lincoln! 

in  his  box  at  Ford's  theater  on  the  evening  of 
April  14th,  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  a  worthless  melodramatic 
actor,  who  seems  to  have  longed  for  notoriety,  and  to 
have  sought  this  dastardly  revenge  for  Southern  wrongs 
and  sufferings.  The  same  evening  Seward  was  assaulted 
at  his  home  and  grievously  wounded.  Lincoln  died  the 
next  morning.  There  proved  to  be  a  plot,  in  which  there 
were  a  number  of  conspirators,  whose  purpose  seems  to 
have  been  the  assassination  of  several  of  the  more 
prominent  men  to  whom  the  country  was  looking  for 
guidance.  Booth  was,  however,  the  chief  conspirator  and 
the  head  and  front  of  the  enterprise.  He  was  pursued  and 
shot.  Several  of  the  conspirators  were  arrested  and  tried. 
Four  were  hanged,  three  imprisoned  for  life,  and  one  for  a 
term  of  years. 

The  North  mourned  Lincoln's  loss  with  sincere  sorrow. 
There  came  to  each  loyal  heart  a  sense  of  keen  personal 

affliction  and  bitter  grief.  The  "plain  peo- 
A  loss  to  the         le»  had  come  t0  know  their  preSident,  to 

nation.  *■  ,  ' 

trust  him  and  to  love  him  as  no  other  public 
man  has  been  loved  in  our  history.  They  felt  that  his 
death  foreboded  trouble,  and  mayhap  disaster.     Could  Lin- 

469 


470  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

coin  have  lived,  the  great  task  of  reorganizing  the  shattered 
fabric  of  the  Union  might  have  been  accomplished  without 
begetting  strong  partisan  bitterness  or  violence  ;  perhaps  the 
long  period  of  estrangement  between  the  North  and  South 
might  have  been  shortened.  Vice-President  Andrew  John- 
son assumed  the  presidency  without  delay,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment went  on  with  its  work.  There  was  no  anarchy  or 
confusion  in  the  conduct  of  its  business.  Republican  gov- 
ernment never  received  a  severer  test. 

The  new  President  was  a  man  of  vigor,  of  strong  con- 
victions, and  of  set  purposes.  He  belonged  to  the  poor 
whites  of  Tennessee,  and  had  in  youth  no  more 
Johnson's  life  training  or  advantages  than  one  of  his  class 
was  apt  to  have.  He  had  reached  manhood 
before  learning  even  to  read  and  write.  His  determina- 
tion and  zeal,  however,  carried  him  forward  in  political 
life.  Before  his  nomination  to  the  vice-presidency  he  had 
been  in  the  lower  House  of  Congress,  Governor  of  Tennessee, 
and  United  States  Senator.  By  refusing  to  follow  his 
State  into  secession  he  had  won  attention  and  renown  at 
the  North.  He  was  strikingly  unsuited  to  the  enormous 
task  that  awaited  him.  Conscientious  and  patriotic  he 
was,  no  doubt ;  but  he  was  narrow,  dogmatic,  and  obstinate. 
He  was  a  man  of  much  native  ability,  but  coming,  as  did 
Lincoln,  from  the  most  humble  surroundings,  he  had  not 
Lincoln's  native  culture  and  sweetness,  nor  the  faculty  of 
winning  men  and  of  feeling  sympathy  with  them.  He  was 
unbending  in  all  his  fiber. 

The  difficulties  that  confronted  Johnson's  administra- 
tion were  many  and  arduous.  The  South  was  in  a  condi- 
tion of  poverty,  a  condition  bordering  on  help- 
onhetime1118  lessness.  There  were  no  legal  State  govern- 
ments, no  civil  officers  with  legal  authority  to 
act.  Millions  of  men  born  in  bondage  were  now  free,  and 
had  no  knowledge  of  how  to  use  their  freedom,  or  how  to 
earn  their  daily  bread  without  direction.     There  was  not 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHNSON— 1865-1869.  471 

much  turbulence,  for  the  negroes  did  not  fully  realize  their 
new  situation,  and  the  whites  were  exhausted  after  the  four 
terrible  years  of  strife.  How  could  order  be  brought  to  the 
weary  and  distracted  South  ?  How  could  industry  be  estab- 
lished on  a  new  basis  ?  How  could  the  relation  between  the 
two  races  be  determined  ?  Were  the  States  themselves  to  be 
allowed  to  solve  all  their  problems  as  each  one  saw  fit,  or 
was  the  National  Government  to  intervene  and  endeavor 
to  shape  Southern  institutions?  Was  the  North  to  take 
full  advantage  of  its  victory,  and  insist  upon  raising  the 
black  man  to  a  place  by  the  side  of  his  late  master  in  social 
and  political  right,  or  was  political  power  to  be  left  solely  in 
the  hands  of  the  men  who  had  waged  war  against  the 
nation  ?  These  were  questions  of  the  greatest  importance. 
Some  of  them  only  time  could  answer.  However  much 
might  be  done  by  way  of  legislation,  time  was  needed  to 
bring  anything  like  a  solution  of  the  new  labor  problem  of 
the  South,  or  to  establish  suitable  social  relations  between 
the  negroes  and  whites. 

Moreover,  questions  arose  concerning  the  right  of  the 

Federal  Government  to  do   anything  about   the  internal 

affairs  of  the  States,  or  to  treat  them  in  any 

jS a1,.-  way  save  as  members  of  the  Union,  with  full 

difficulties.  .  •  .    .  ' 

rights  and  privileges.  It  was  argued,  on  the 
one  hand,  that  the  war  had  been  conducted  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  States  could  not  go  out  of  the  Union,  and  it 
was  maintained  that,  if  they  could  not  go  out,  they  were 
now  in,  on  terms  of  equality  with  the  other  States.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  leading  Republicans  now  declared 
that  the  States  had,  at  least  to  some  extent,  forfeited  their 
rights  as  States,  and  that,  before  they  were  once  more  re- 
instated in  their  constitutional  relations,  certain  reforms 
should  be  brought  about.  These  men  wished  to  have  as- 
surance that  the  war  was  actually  over  and  that  the  negro 
was  safe  from  molestation.  Some  of  the  leaders — men  like 
Charles  Sumner — looked  upon  the  war  as  a  great  struggle 
31 


472  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

v  for  human  freedom,  and  were  unwilling  to  consider  that 
the  real  contest  was  finished  until  the  freemen  were  given 
the  right  to  vote  and  were  in  possession  of  social  as  well  as 
political  privileges.  We  need  not  consider  at  length  the 
legal  arguments  upon  which  the  Republicans  based  their 
assertion  that  Congress  had  power  to  declare  that  the 
Southern  States  were  not  immediately  entitled  to  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  or  to  their  full  rights  as  members  of 
the  Union.  That  men  did  seek  to  find  legal  justification 
for  their  every  action  is  of  interest,  because  it  shows  that 
the  people  were  still  regardful  of  legal  rights  and  prin- 
ciples even  at  the  end  of  the  greatest  civil  conflict  in  his- 
tory which  in  many  a  nation  would  have  been  destructive 
of  all  rights  save  those  of  brute  force.  But  the  Korth  felt 
that  the  South  must  be  reorganized,  and  it  is  of  little  real 
moment  what  was  the  legal  theory  or  fiction  on  which  Con- 
gress based  its  action.  Republican  plans  as  to  what  steps 
should  be  taken  matured  somewhat  slowly.  By  no  means 
the  whole  party  was  ready  at  first  to  follow  its  extreme 
!  leaders  in  endeavoring  to  establish  negro  suffrage  in  the 
South ;  but  the  whole  party  did  desire  that  steps  be  taken 
to  make  the  safety  of  the  freedmen  certain. 

The  President  issued  (May  29,  1865)  a  proclamation  of 
\  amnesty,  offering  to  pardon  all  persons  that  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  late  rebellion,  save  certain  classes  of  persons 
who  were  to  apply  specially  for  pardon.  All  who  availed 
themselves  of  the  offer  of  amnesty  were  to  take  an  oath  of 
loyalty  and  pledge  themselves  to  support  Federal  laws, 
including  the  emancipation  proclamation. 

At  the  same  time  Johnson  began  his  system  of  recon- 
struction by  appointing  provisional  governors  for  the 
J  hn  on'a  Southern  States.     Each  governor  was  author- 

method  of  ized  to  provide  for  the  assembling  of  a  conven- 

reoonstruotion.  tion  that  would  alter  or  amend  the  state  Con- 
stitution and  provide  for  the  establishment  of  the  State  in 
its  constitutional  relations. 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  JOHNSON— 1865-1869.  473 

This  plan  of  the  President  seemed  to  give  the  power 
into  the  hands  of  the  white  people  of  the  South  and  to 
.  ,.,.,.       make  no  provision  for  the  freedmen.     It  was 
by  the  therefore  opposed  by  the  great  majority  of  the 

Republicans.  Republican  party,  inasmuch  as  they  believed  in 
keeping  the  Southern  States  under  the  control  of  the  Na- 
tional Government  until  the  negro  was  secure  in  his  rights. 
The  opposition  to  the  President  would  not  have  been  so 
bitter  had  it  not  been  for  two  things  :  (1)  Johnson  showed 
himself  headstrong  and  utterly  lacking  in  tact ;  (2)  the 
Southern  States,  organized  under  the  President's  direction, 
began  to  pass  laws  that  bore  heavily  upon  the  freedmen — 
laws  that  seemed  to  have  the  object  of  making  the  negro  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  a  slave  again.  It  was  quite  evi- 
dent that  even  those  acts  that  appeared  harmless  might 
easily  be  enforced  so  as  practically  to  establish  involuntary 
servitude  within  a  State  contrary  to  the  Thirteenth  Amend- 
ment, which,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  just  at  this  time 
adopted  and  put  in  force.* 

When  Congress  met  in  December,  1865,  many  were  an- 
noyed at  the  President's  haste,  and  were  determined  that 
the    Southern   States   should  not  be   allowed 
SgToftfe68    their  ful1  constitutional  rights  until  the  negro 
Southern  was  fully    protected   from   unjust  legislation, 

problem.  gu^.  when  Congress  passed  an  act  providing 

for  a  bureau  for  the  relief  of  freedmen  and  refugees,  John- 
son vetoed  it.  Immediately  upon  the  reception  of  this  veto 
Congress  passed  a  joint  resolution  declaring  that  no  senator 
or  representative  should  be  admitted  into  either  branch  of 
Congress  from  any  one  of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  p 
until  such  State  was  declared  by  Congress  entitled  to 
such  representation.  By  this  means  Congress  could  com- 
pel the  States  to  accept  certain  regulations  that  were 
deemed  essential.  An  open  rupture  between  the  President 
and  the  party  that  elected  him  might  have  been  avoided 

*  December,  1865. 


474  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

even  yet,  perhaps,  or  at  least  delayed,  had  Johnson  not 
begun  to  make  intemperate  and  unbecoming  speeches,  de- 
nouncing the  Congress  as  "  no  Congress,"  and  even  charg- 
ing individual  members  with  opposition  to  the  fundamental 
"  principles  of  this  Government "  and  with  "  laboring  to 
destroy  them." 

Somewhat  later  in  the  session  a  Civil  Eights  bill  was 
passed.      The  intention  of  the  act  was  to   establish  the 
equality  of  the  races  in  the  Southern  States,  to 
!jj?e  ^^  put  the  freedmen  under  the  protection  of  Na- 

tional law  and  National  officers,  safe  from  per- 
secution or  molestation  at  the  will  or  caprice  of  a  State. 
It  declared,  among  other  things,  that  "  all  persons  born  in 
the  United  States  and  not  subject  to  any  foreign  power  " 
were  citizens  of  the  United  States.  This  act  was  vetoed, 
but  was  promptly  passed  over  the  veto.  Congress  was  no 
longer  in  a  submissive  mood. 

It  was  next  determined  to  put  the  Civil  Eights  bill  into 
the  form  of  a  constitutional  amendment,  where  its  prin- 
ciples would  be  permanent  and  safe  from  vio- 
The  Fourteenth  iation.        The    Fourteenth    Amendment    was 

Amendment. 

therefore  agreed  upon  and  offered  to  the  States 
(June,  1866)  for  adoption.  It  declared  that  "  all  persons 
born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject  to 
the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside."    It  declared  that  no 

State  should  make  or  enforce  any  law  abridg- 
es first  section.  ing  the  u  priviieges  or  immunities  of  citizens 

of  the  United  States,"  or  deprive  any  person  of  "  life, 
liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,"  or  deny  to 
any  person  "  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws."  The  Ee- 
publicans  saw  that  by  the  freeing  of  the  blacks  they  had 
actually  increased  the  political  strength  of  the  Southern 
States,  because  the  three-fifths  rule  *  would  no  longer  ap- 


*  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  ii,  §  3. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHNSON— 1865-1869.  475 

ply,  but  all  the  negroes  would  be  counted  in  determining 
the  representative  population.     Some  were  desirous  of  giv- 
ing the  negroes  the  suffrage  immediately  by  i 
Its  second  National  act.     Others  hesitated.     All,  however, 

Cnp  +  1  rtTI 

desired  to  prevent  the  Southern  States  from 
reaping  this  political  advantage  from  emancipation,  unless 
they  allowed  the  blacks  to  vote.  It  was  therefore  decided 
that  if  the  negroes  were  not  given  the  suffrage  by  a  State 
voluntarily,  they  should  not  be  counted  in  determining  the  j 
basis  of  representation.  For  these  reasons  the  second  sec- 
tion of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  added,  providing 
that  if  the  right  to  vote  were  denied  to  any  of  the  male 
inhabitants  of  a  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age  and 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  ex- 
cept as  punishment  for  crime,  the  basis  of  representation 
should  "be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number 
of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of 
male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State."     The 

amendment  also  provided  for  the  exclusion 
Its  third    .       from  Federal  office  of  the  most  prominent  per- 

section.  x 

sons  engaged  in  the  war  against  the  Govern- 
ment until  such  disability  were  removed  by  Congress.     It 

was  expressly  stated  that  the  validity  of  the 
Its  fourth  National  debt  should  not  be  questioned,  but  the 

section.  a 

debts  incurred  in  and  for  the  rebellion  should 

not  be  assumed  by  the  "  United  States  or  any  State." 

Such  was  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  by  far  the  great- 
est change  made  in  the  Constitution  since  its  adoption. 
it  makes  radio  l  ^nere  was  some  difficulty,  as  we  shall  see,  in 
changes  in  the  securing  its  ratification,  the  Southern  States 
Constitution.  refusing  to  accept  it ;  two  years  passed  before 
it  was  finally  ratified  (1868),  but  we  may  notice  at  this 
time  how  it  modified  the  Constitution  when  once  it  be- 
came a  part  of  the  fundamental  law.  Before  this  amend- 
ment was  passed  the  subject  of  suffrage  was  solely  a  State 
affair,  as  long  as  the  State  had  a  "  republican  form  of  gov- 


476  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ernment."  So,  too,  the  State  had  complete  control  over  its 
citizens  and  could  be  as  tyrannical  as  it  saw  fit,  provided 
that  it  did  not  interfere  with  the  relations  between  a  per- 
son and  the  National  Government  or  violate  the  few  ex- 
press prohibitions  in  the  National  Constitution.  By  this 
amendment  the  nation  intervened  to  protect  the  citizen  of 
the  State  against  unjust  legislation  or  action  of  a  State. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  the  situation  had  entirely  altered  from 
what  it  was  in  1788-'90.  Then  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
shield  the  citizen  from  the  possible  tyranny  of  the  National 
Government,  and  to  this  end  the  first  ten  amendments 
were  adopted. 

Meantime  the  controversy  between  the  President  and 
Congress  waxed  hotter.  Johnson  vetoed  the  most  impor- 
tant  bills,  and  Congress  passed  them  over  his 
Congress  in  veto.  In  this  way,  in  the  course  of  a  year,  the 
open  enmity.  most  essential  measures  were  made  law  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  out  the  congressional  idea  of  "  recon- 
structing the  Southern  States."  In  spite  of  the  President's 
objections,  a  measure  known  as  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill, 
providing  for  the  relief  and  assistance  to  the  Southern  ne- 
groes, became  law.  Nebraska  at  this  time  was  admitted  to 
the  Union. 

In    March,   1867,   Congress    passed    the   Civil    Tenure 

bill.     This  provided  that  a  person  appointed  to  office  by 

the   President   and  approved  by  the    Senate 

Tenure  of  should  hold  office  till  another  person  was  ap- 

Omce  Act.  ,  .   .  x  _       .      * 

pointed  to  the  position  with  approval  01  the 
Senate,  and  that  members  of  the  Cabinet  should  hold  office 
for  the  term  of  the  President  appointing  them  and  one 
month  thereafter,  "  subject  to  removal  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate."  An  officer  might,  how- 
ever, be  suspended  while  the  Senate  was  not  in  session,  and 
the  place  given  for  the  time  being  to  some  other  person. 

During  the  fall  and  winter    (1866-'67)   the   Southern 
States,  perhaps  encouraged  by  the  quarrel  between  Johnson 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  JOHNSON— 1865-1869.  477 

and  his   party,  rejected  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.     As 
a   consequence  new   reconstruction   measures   were   deter- 
mined upon  and  duly  enacted.     Congress  pro- 
Congressional       ided  f      th    division  of  the  Soutn  into  five 

reconstruction. 

military  districts,  each  to  be  in  the  charge  of  a 

general  aided  by  "  a  sufficient  military  force."  This  officer 
was  to  keep  order  and  to  have  wide  powers  of  government. 
Under  his  guidance  a  State  was  to  elect  a  convention, 
adopt  a  constitution  granting  the  suffrage  to  blacks  and 
whites  alike,  and  ratify  through  its  legislature  the  Four- 
teenth Amendment.  When  this  was  done  and  approved 
the  State  was  to  be  allowed  representation  in  Congress. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  (1867)  Johnson  requested 

the  resignation  of  Stanton,  his  Secretary  of  War,  "  because 

of  public  considerations  of  a  high  character." 

The  President     Tlie  tw0  men  were  incompatible,  and  Stanton 

impeached.  ,  x  ' 

had  long  been  hostile  to  Johnson  and  his 
policy.  He  refused  to  resign,  because  of  "  public  considera- 
tions of  a  high  character."  Johnson  suspended  him  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provision  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  act. 
When  the  Senate  met  it  refused  to  agree  to  this  suspension. 
The  President  then  removed  Stanton  from  the  office  and 
gave  the  portfolio  to  General  Lorenzo  Thomas.  The  ill 
feeling  was  now  so  great  that  the  Republicans  determined 
to  resort  to  impeachment  to  get  rid  of  their  obnoxious 
executive.  In  March,  1868,  articles  of  impeachment  were 
presented  by  the  House  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate.  The 
chief  charge  was  violation  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  act  by  the 
removal  of  Stanton.  The  trial  lasted  nearly  two  months. 
Chief  Justice  Chase  presided  with  dignity  and  impartiality. 
The  ceremony  was  watched  with  interest  and  curiosity  in 
America  and  Europe.  The  result  of  the  trial  was  acquittal. 
The  majority  lacked  one  vote  of  the  necessary  two  thirds. 
Seven  Republican  senators  voted  against  conviction.  They 
believed  that  the  President  should  be  entitled  to  remove 
his  subordinates.      It  is  now  generally  believed  that  im- 

Lk 


478  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

peachment  was  unwise  and  that  conviction  would  have 
been  unjust. 

Before  the  end  of  1868  most  of  the  States  were  fully 
re-established  in  their  constitutional  relations  or  "read- 
mitted to  the  Union."  Provision  had  been 
"leconsTructed"  made  for  the  admission  of  Tennessee  soon 
by  congressional  after  the  close  of  the  war.  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
and  Arkansas  were  admitted  to  representation  in  Congress 
in  1868.  Seward  was  enabled  to  announce,  July  28,  1868, 
that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  had  become  part  of  the 
Constitution. 

The  Southern  States  during  these  years  and  for  some 
time  afterward  were  in  an  unfortunate  condition.  The 
more  influential  white  men  were  kept  out  of 
Oarpet-bag  office  by  the  congressional  policy  because  they 
had  taken  part  in  the  war.  This  left  the  con- 
trol of  the  convention  and  the  legislature,  when  once  civil 
government  was  established,  to  the  more  ignorant  white 
people  and  to  the  negroes,  who  had  no  fitness  for  the  diffi- 
cult tasks'  that  needed  attention.  Men  from  other  States 
came  upon  the  scene  and  became  political  leaders,  taking 
advantage  of  the  ignorant  blacks  to  win  for  themselves 
power  and  influence.  These  men  were  called  "carpet- 
baggers." The  governments  set  up  under  their  direction 
were  incompetent  and  woefully  corrupt.  Doubtless  some  of 
the  Northern  men  that  went  to  the  South  at  this  time 
were  neither  corrupt  nor  influenced  by  unworthy  motives, 
but  so  many  were  merely  unscrupulous  adventurers,  quite 
devoid  of  principle,  that  all  were  called  "  carpet-baggers  " 
and  looked  upon  with  suspicion.  The  Southern  people 
were  in  their  turn  intolerant,  and  occasionally  guilty  of 
outrages  against  Northern  men.  The  ill  feeling  between 
the  sections,  therefore,  had  as  yet  diminished  little,  if  at  all. 
The  white  people  under  negro  and  "  carpet-bag  "  rule  were 
bitter  in  their  hatred  of  Eepublican  reconstruction,  while 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JOHNSON— 1865-1869.         479 

every  month  seemed  to  harden  the  Northern  leaders  in  the 
belief  that  the  "  ex-rebels  "  were  not  to  be  trusted. 

Several  difficult  and  interesting  foreign  questions  arose 
during  Johnson's  administration.  Soon  after  the  begin- 
ning of  our  civil  war  France  had  sent  troops 
>reign  aars.  .^q  Mexico,  overthrown  the  republican  gov- 
ernment there,  and  established  an  empire,  with  Maximilian, 
an  archduke  of  Austria,  as  emperor.  During  the  war 
Seward  had  cautiously  protested ;  but  now  that  there  was 
peace  at  home,  France  was  given  very  distinctly  to  under- 
stand that  the  presence  of  her  troops  in  Mexico  was  ob- 
noxious to  the  United  States.  Our  Government  has  for 
many  decades  held  the  opinion  that  European  countries 
must  not  extend  their  systems  in  this  hemisphere  against 
the  will  and  wish  of  the  American  Union.  Upon  receiving 
the  peremptory  demand  from  Seward,  Napoleon  III  withdrew 
his  army.  The  luckless  Maximilian,  left  to  his  fate,  was 
captured  by  Mexican  troops,  tried  by  court  martial,  and 
shot. 

In  1867  the  United  States  bought  Alaska  from  Eussia 
for  87,200,000.     This  purchase  added  531,409  square  miles 
to  the  National  domain.     In  the  eighty  years 
^rchaae  *na^  ^ad  lapsed  since  the  formation  of  the 

constitution  the  territory  of  the  Union  had 
increased  fourfold.  In  1787  it  was  819,815  square  miles. 
After  the  purchase  of  Alaska  it  was  3,501,509  square 
miles.* 

No  less  important  than  other  events  of  this  stormy  ad- 
ministration was  the  final  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable.     In 
the  summer  of  1866  the  cable  was  laid  and 
The  Atlantic       used.      The  commercial  and  political  impor- 
tance of  this  frail  connection  between  America 
and  Europe  can  hardly  be  overestimated.     Trade  was  put 

*  These  figures  are  somewhat  differently  given  by  different  authori- 
ties. The  United  States  census  gives  the  total  area,  without  Alaska, 
as  3,025,601. 


480  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

on  a  new  basis,  for  the  condition  of  the  European  mar- 
kets could  be  read  in  New  York  each  morning.  The 
political  relations  between  the  Old  and  the  New  World 
were  simplified. 

For  the  election  of  1868  General  Grant  seemed  the  only 
possible  candidate  for  the  Republicans.  The  party  con- 
tained many  able  leaders  with  far  more  political 
SiMa"1  experience,  but  he  was  the  center  of  interest 
and  attention.  The  quiet,  relentless  deter- 
mination with  which  he  had  carried  on  the  war  had  com- 
pletely captured  the  public  imagination.  He  was  unani- 
mously nominated  on  the  first  ballot  in  the  convention, 
amid  great  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm.  Schuyler  Colfax, 
of  Indiana,  was  nominated  for  the  vice-presidency.  The 
platform  congratulated  the  country  on  the  success  of  the 
reconstruction  policy  of  Congress ;  it  pledged  the  party  to 
maintain  equal  suffrage  for  all  loyal  men;  it  denounced 
Andrew  Johnson  and  his  methods,  and  promised  the  pay- 
ment of  military  bounties  and  pensions  and  full  payment 
of  the  National  debt.  The  Democrats  nominated  Horatio 
Seymour,  of  New  York,  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of 
Missouri.  The  platform  demanded  immediate  restoration 
of  all  the  States  to  their  rights  in  the  Union,  amnesty  for 
all  political  offenses,  economy  and  reform  in  office.  It  ar- 
raigned "  the  Radical  party "  for  its  "  unparalleled  op- 
pression and  tyranny,"  appealed  to  all  patriots  to  unite  in 
the  "  great  struggle  for  the  liberties  of  the  people,"  and  de- 
clared that  Johnson  was  "  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
whole  American  people."  The  result  of  the  election  was 
at  no  time  doubtful.  There  was  great  enthusiasm  for 
Grant  at  the  North,  while  at  the  South  the  electoral  vote 
was  in  nearly  every  State  cast  for  the  Republican  candi- 
date, because  the  freedmen  were  all  of  that  party,  and 
many  of  the  white  men  were  not  allowed  to  vote.  Grant 
received  two  hundred  and  fourteen  electoral  votes,  and 
Seymour  eighty. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877.  481 

Before  closing  the  account  of  this  administration  we 
should  notice  that  something  had  been  done  to  reduce  the 
immense  war  debt,  and  that  the  nation  was  in 
Material  many   ways   prosperous.      The    highest   point 

that  the  debt  ever  reached  was  in  the  summer 
of  1865,  when  it  amounted  to  the  enormous  total  of  $2,844,- 
649,626,  a  burden  of  $84  on  each  person  in  the  United 
States.  In  1869  it  amounted  to  $64.43  per  capita.  The 
nation  showed  remarkable  powers  of  recuperation,  after  the 
long  and  destructive  war. 

References. 

The  best  short  accounts  are  in  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion, 
pp.  254-272  ;  Dawes,  Charles  Sumner,  pp.  214-273  ;  Lothrop, 
William  H.  Seward,  Chapter  XXI;  Moore,  American  Congress,  pp. 
402-435;  Lalor,  Cyclopaedia,  Volume  III,  pp.  540-556;  Burgess, 
Reconstruction  and  the  Constitution;  McCulloch,  Men  and  Meas- 
ures of  Half  a  Century,  pp.  368-412. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  ULYSSES  S.   GRANT,   1869-1877. 

When  General  Grant  took  the  presidential  chair  he 
had  had  no   experience   in  politics,  no   training  in  civil 

duties.  He  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  and 
Ulysses  S.  ^ad   serve(i  with   distinction   in  the   Mexican 

War.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  he 
occupied  a  humble  position  as  a  private  citizen.  His 
success  as  a  general  gave  him  world-wide  reputation,  and 
he  was  hailed  by  the  enthusiastic  North  as  the  savior  of 
his  country.  He  was  a  man  of  strict,  unswerving  honesty, 
and  of  pure  motives.  He  was  direct  and  incisive  in  his 
methods  of  thought  and  action.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  his  talents,  that  so  well  fitted  him  for  conducting 
a  great  aggressive  war,  were  equally  well  adapted  to  the  no 
less  difficult  tasks  of  peace.  Downright  and  upright  him- 
self, he  was  not  always  successful  in  winning  and  holding 


482 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Problems  of 
the  time. 


the  best  men  of  his  party  by  giving  them  frank  confidence ; 
nor  did  he  have  great  insight  into  the  weaknesses  of  the 
men  about  him.  These  characteristics  account,  in  part, 
for  some  of  the  difficulties  of  his  administration. 

The  times  were  trying  ones.  One  can  hardly  imagine 
greater  or  more  troublesome  tasks  than  those  confronting 
the  American  Government  in  these  years.  The 
people  were  undoubtedly  showing  a  remarkable 
capacity  for  self-government  and  self-restraint. 
They  submitted  quietly  to  the  payment  of  enormous  taxes ; 
they  were  honestly  and  without  ostentation  bent  upon  pay- 
ing the  great  war  debt  with  all 
reasonable  speed.  A  million 
soldiers  who  had  been  quiet- 
ly absorbed  into  the  peaceful 
community  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  military  arts  or  am- 
bition. But  spite  of  all  this 
the  period  was  full  of  diffi- 
culties. There  were  grave 
international  questions  to  be 
settled,  and  internal  problems 
that  called  for  wise  solution. 
Not  till  about  1871  were  all 
the  Southern  States  in  posses- 
sion of  their  full  constitu- 
tional rights,  and  even  when 
politically  "  reconstructed  "  they  were  of  course  internally 
still  in  some  confusion.  Many  of  their  people  still  felt  re- 
sentment toward  the  North.  A  reconstruction  of  sentiment 
between  North  and  South  could  come  only  in  the  course  of 
years,  as  the  result  of  generous  fair-mindedness  in  the  one 
section  and  sensible  self-control  in  the  other.  Moreover, 
in  many  ways  the  war  had  brought  disorganization  into  the 
National  Government ;  the  details  of  administration,  which 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  time  of  peace,  could  not 


^y^ 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877.  483 

be  carefully  watched  and  guided  in  time  of  a  great  civil 
war.  Furthermore,  the  war  had  had  a  demoralizing  influ- 
ence in  some  respects.  It  is  true  that  it  called  forth 
patriotism,  prompted  men  to  mercy,  and  stirred  men's 
hearts  to  lofty  motives.  No  war  that  is  waged  for  country 
and  to  free  millions  of  human  beings  from  slavery  can  be, 
on  the  whole,  bad  in  its  effects  on  the  moral  make-up  of 
the  nation.  But  war  is  brutal,  and  its  brutality  is  apt  to 
leave  the  curse  of  selfishness  and  greed  behind  it.  The 
great  mass  of  the  people  were  honest  and  moral ;  but  the 
troublesome  time  of  war  encouraged  some  men  to  believe 
that  it  was  legitimate  to  take  advantage  of  the  Government 
and  to  get  rich  by  stealth  at  the  public  expense. 

Before  the  end  of  Johnson's  term  the  Republicans  de- 
termined to  give  the  negro  the  ballot  without  qualification. 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment  allowed  the 
Amentoent.       states  to  determine  for  themselves  what  the 

basis  of  suffrage  should  be.  If  the  right  to  vote 
were  denied  to  any  of  the  male  citizens  twenty-one  years 
old,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  the  basis  of  representation  in 
Congress  might  be  cut  down.  This  provision  was  not  en- 
forced, and  from  that  day  to  this  has  remained  inoperative. 
In  1869  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  submitted  to  the 
States  for  adoption.  It  declared :  "  The  right  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged 
by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  Secretary  Fish 
announced,  March  30,  1870,  that  it  had  "  become  valid  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States." 

The  acceptance  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  as  part  of 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  nation  did  not  do  away  with 
the  troubles  and  distress  that  grew  out  of  the  rebellion.  The 
corruption  of  the  carpet-bag  governments,  built  on  negro 
suffrage,  was  proof  enough  that  slavery  had  been  a  poor 
schoolmaster  for  freedom.     Some   of  the  blacks  quickly 


484  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

learned  the  vices  of  politics,  and  showed  remarkable  apti- 
tude in  the  art  of  reaping  personal  advantage  from  office. 
Corruption  ^ne  States  that  nad  Deen  impoverished  by  four 

in  the  Southern  years  of  war  were  plundered  ruthlessly ;  enor- 
mous debts  were  rolled  up  by  extravagant 
and  dishonest  legislation.  In  South  Carolina,  where  negro 
rule  long  prevailed  because  of  the  great  number  of  blacks, 
the  debt  increased  from  about  $5,500,000  in  1868  to  over 
$20,000,000  in  1873.  Some  other  States  suffered  almost  as 
much. 

The  Southern  wThites  determined  that  negro  rule  must 
be  ended  by  some  means,  lawful  or  unlawful.  It  seemed 
Opposition  to  ^°  them  a  matter  of  self-preservation.  This 
carpet-bag         feeling  is  well  illustrated  by  the  statement  of 

government.  ft    citizen    of    South    Carolina .    « To    take    the 

State  .  .  .  away  from  the  intelligent  white  men  and  hand 
it  over  bodily  to  ignorant  negroes  just  escaped  from  slavery 
.  .  .  was  nothing  less  than  flat  burglary  on  the  theory  and 
practice  of  representative  government."  In  some  of  the 
States  the  negroes  were  in  a  minority;  and  where  that 
was  the  case  the  government  soon  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  white  people  as  a  simple  result  of  united  action  on 
their  part.  In  other  places,  however,  deplorable  methods 
were  adopted.  The  poorer  and  more  ignorant  white  men, 
who  had  been  reared  amid  the  degrading  influences  of 
slavery,  could  not  appreciate  that  the  negro  had  rights 
that  they  were  bound  to  respect.  The  luckless  blacks  were 
harassed  and  harried.  An  oath-bound  order  under  the 
name  of  the  Ku-Klux-Klan,  throwing  a  veil  of  secrecy 
and  mystery  over  all  its  doings,  appeared  here  and  there 
throughout  the  South,  terrorizing  the  superstitious  negro 
and  overwhelming  him  with  awe  and  dread.  It  is  difficult 
from  any  evidence  that  we  have  to  determine  the  exact 
origin  or  extent  of  the  Ku-Klux  movement.  To  Northern 
men  it  seemed  that  the  whole  South  was  conspiring  to  make 
national  law  inoperative,  and  to  rob  the  negro  of  his  rights. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877.  485 

It  was  some  years  before  the  lawlessness  and  violence  were 
stamped  out.  The  intelligent  people  of  the  South  finally 
united  in  efforts  to  put  down  this  open  violence  and  to  es- 
tablish order,  for  they  saw  that  there  was  a  direct  issue 
between  law  and  anarchy. 

Because  of  these  conditions  in  the  South,  Congress  un- 
dertook to  pass  repressive  measures.  A  series  of  acts  were 
passed  (1870-'72)  the  purposes  of  which  were 
the  protection  of  the  negro  in  his  new  privi- 
leges and  rights.  The  President  was  given  authority  to 
suppress  insurrection  whenever  the  State  officers  were  un- 
able or  unwilling  to  do  so.  He  was  also  authorized,  for  a 
limited  time,  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  The  courts  were  assigned  wide  jurisdiction  over 
cases  in  which  persons  claimed  they  had  been  deprived  of 
rights,  privileges,  or  immunities  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  These  measures  were  called  enforce- 
ment bills,  or  "force  bills."  By  such  means,  by  dint  of 
energy  on  the  part  of  the  National  Government  and  the  co- 
operation of  the  more  sensible  of  the  Southern  people,  who 
realized  the  danger  of  tumult  and  anarchy,  violent  methods 
of  intimidating  the  negro  were  done  away  with.  For 
some  time  after  this  it  seemed  to  the  President  necessary 
to  use  the  Federal  troops  in  order  to  secure  free  and  fair 
elections  in  the  Southern  States. 

From  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  and  the  acknowledg- 
ment by  Great  Britain  of  the  belligerency  of  the  Confed- 
eracy our  relations  with  that  country  had  been 
tewM?*-™1  somewhat  strained.  Upon  Grant's  accession 
there  were  serious  difficulties  that  demanded 
immediate  settlement.  Our  Government  asserted  that  Eng- 
land had  not  done  her  duty  as  a  neutral ;  that  it  was  her  duty 
to  use  diligence  in  an  effort  to  prevent  the  arming  or  equip- 
ping of  any  armed  vessel  within  her  limits,  and  to  prevent  the 
departure  of  such  a  vessel  to  cruise  against  the  commerce  of 
a  friendly  nation ;  that  likewise  a  belligerent  should  not  be 


486  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

permitted  to  make  use  of  neutral  ports  as  bases  of  naval  oper- 
ation or  for  the  purpose  of  getting  military  supplies  ;  and  that 
Great  Britain  had  been  remiss  in  its  duty,  inasmuch  as  the 
Alabama  and  other  Confederate  cruisers  had  been  fitted 
out  in  English  harbors  to  prey  upon  American  commerce 
even  after  the  ministry  had  been  given  fair  warning  as  to 
the  character  and  purpose  of  the  vessels.  We  insisted, 
therefore,  that  damages  should  be  paid  for  the  resulting 
injuries. 

Fortunately  the  two  countries  were  wise  enough  not  to 
make  more  havoc  by  fighting  over  their  differences.  In 
1871  a  treaty  between  the  two  powers  was 
w6 h'16^7 °f  signe^  at  Washington,  agreeing  that  all  mat- 
ters of  dispute  should  be  submitted  to  arbitra- 
tion. The  Alabama  claims  were  to  be  passed  upon  by  a 
court  of  five  arbitrators  appointed  by  Great  Britain,  the 
United  States,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Brazil. 

This  tribunal  met  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  and  made  a 
careful  examination  of  the  whole  controversy.  The  Amer- 
The  Geneva  *can  Government  contended  that  our  losses  in- 
award,  eluded  not  only  the  actual  destruction  of  mer- 

1871-72,  chantmen  and   cargoes,   but  "heavy   national 

expenditures  in  the  pursuit  of  the  cruisers  and  in  direct 
injury  in  the  transfer  of  a  large  part  of  the  American  com- 
mercial marine  to  the  British  flag,  in  the  enhanced  pay- 
ments of  insurance,  in  the  prolongation  of  the  war,  and  in 
the  addition  of  a  large  sum  to  the  cost  of  the  war  and  the 
suppression  of  the  rebellion."  The  arbitrators  refused  to 
allow  compensation  for  the  more  indirect  or  remote  dam- 
ages, but  awarded  to  the  United  States  $15,500,000  in  gold 
as  an  indemnity  to  be  paid  by  Great  Britain  in  satisfaction 
for  all  claims. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Washington  it  was  also  agreed  to  leave 
to  the  Emperor  of  Germany  as  arbitrator  the  settlement  of 
a  dispute  over  the  Northwestern  boundary.  In  1846  the 
line  between  the  American  and  British  possessions  had  been 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   GRANT— 1869-1877.  487 

defined  as  following  along  the  forty-ninth  parallel  "  to  the 
middle  of  the  channel  which  separates  the  continent  from 
„  x,  Vancouver's    Island ;     and    thence     southerly 

Northwestern  7  J 

boundary  and  through  the  middle  of  the  said  channel  and  of 
the  fisheries.  puca's  Straits  to  the  Pacific  Ocean."  A  question 
had  arisen  as  to  where  the  middle  of  the  channel  was.  The 
German  Emperor  decided  in  favor  of  the  claim  made  by  the 
United  States.  The  Treaty  of  Washington  made  provision 
for  the  settlement  of  difficulties  that  had  arisen  concerning 
the  Northeastern  fisheries.  In  1877  a  commission  met  in 
Halifax  and  awarded  to  England  the  sum  of  15,500,000. 

It  was  plain  by  this  time  that  to  compel  the  Southern 

people  to  observe  the  new  amendments  to  the  Constitution 

fully  was  a  difficult  if  not  an  impossible  task. 

Differences  in  J  x 

the  Kepublican  To  accomplish  anything  by  force,  constant 
party.  armed  intervention  was  a  necessity.     But  many 

felt  that  the  Government  had  already  gone  too  far ;  that  the 
only  sensible  course  was  to  leave  the  South  alone ;  that  as 
long  as  Federal  troops  were  stationed  there  Southern  resent- 
ment would  continue  in  all  its  bitterness,  and  that  the  peo- 
ple could  never  be  won  back  to  affectionate  loyalty  by  main 
force.  They  felt  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  local 
self-government  was  being  dangerously  disregarded.  Some 
Republicans  had  become  antagonistic  to  Grant  personally. 
They  believed  that  he  had  shown  rare  incapacity  for  civil 
duties,  and  that  he  was  surrounded  by  men  who  were  greedy 
if  not  corrupt.  A  division  in  the  Republican  party  was 
likely  to  come  sooner  or  later,  because  it  was  in  reality  a 
composite  party,  made  up  of  men  who  were  not  apt  to  think 
alike  on  many  questions.  When  once  the  great  task  of 
crushing  the  rebellion  was  over,  the  different  elements  in 
the  party  began  to  show  their  natural  tendencies. 

The  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  existing  conditions 

showed  itself  in  the  Liberal  Republican  movement  of  1872. 

The  men  who  became  interested  in  it  were  those  Republicans 

who  found  themselves  out  of  sympathy  with  the  administra- 

32 


488  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

tion,  out   of  patience  with  the  management  of  Southern 

matters,  and  eager  for  "  reform  "  in  civil  office.     Many,  too, 

wished  a  reduction  of  tariff  duties  and  other 

The  Liberal        economic  changes.     A  national  convention  held 

Republicans^  ° 

at  Cincinnati  nominated  Horace  Greeley,  of 
New  York,  for  President,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri, 
for  Vice-President.  A  platform  was  adopted  charging  "  the 
partisans  of  the  administration  assuming  to  be  the  Repub- 
lican party  "  with  arbitrary  and  unpatriotic  conduct  toward 
the  South,  and  with  selfish  and  unscrupulous  use  of  power. 
The  new  party  demanded  immediate  reform  in  public  office 
and  the  re-establishment  of  civil  rule  without  military  in- 
terference in  the  Southern  States. 

The  Democrats,  having  no  issue  to  present,  found  them- 
selves fairly  well  in  accord  with  the  principles  of  the  Lib- 
eral Republicans.  The  platform  and  candidates 
were  therefore  accepted  by  the  Democratic  Na- 
tional Convention.  A  few  Democrats  found  it  impossible 
to  accept  the  nomination  of  Greeley,  who  had  been  for 
years  an  ardent,  enthusiastic  Republican,  given  to  the  use  of 
very  plain  language  in  his  condemnation  of  the  Democracy. 
This  faction  placed'  a  straight  Democratic  ticket  in  the 
field ;  but  the  movement  was  of  no  avail,  inasmuch  as  the 
nominees  refused  to  be  candidates. 

The  Republicans  renominated  Grant,  and  gave  the  sec- 
ond place  on  the  ticket  to  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts. 
Many  persons  were  still  fearful  of  any  back- 
renominated  ward  step  in  the  management  of  the  Southern 
and  elected,  question.  There  was  a  strong  feeling,  too, 
that  Greeley  was  unfit  for  the  presidency.  A  high-minded, 
honest  man,  with  strong  purposes  and  noble  aims,  he  was 
impractical  and  visionary.  He  was  in  his  place  when  he 
was  appealing  to  the  nation's  conscience,  or  discussing  in 
racy,  telling  phrases  the  moral  duties  of  government.  But 
he  had  almost  no  experience  in  public  office,  and  was  with- 
out aptitude  for  the  duties  of  administration.     Grant  and 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877.  489 

Wilson  were  elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Greeley 
died  before  the  presidential  electors  met  to  cast  their  bal- 
lots. 

Grant's  second  administration  was  not  very  eventful, 
nor  does  it  differ  in  character  materially  from  the  first. 
_.   n   ..  Some  of  the  troubles  that  had  arisen  from  the 

The  Southern 

problem  rebellion  had  passed  away.     Some  of  the  great 

remains,  problems  had  been  solved,  but  much  still  re- 

mained to  be  done.  The  Southern  question  was  still  a 
pressing  one.  How  far  should  the  Southern  States  be  al- 
lowed to  manage  elections  and  all  internal  affairs  without 
molestation  from  the  Central  Government  ?  This  was  the 
difficult  problem  of  the  time.  The  Republican  party  was, 
on  the  whole,  in  favor  of  keeping  such  control  that  the 
amendments  could  be  enforced  throughout  the  South. 
But  the  country  was  in  reality  growing  weary  of  inter- 
ference and  longing  for  quiet. 

In  a  number  of  the  Southern  States,  as  we  have  seen, 

the  Government  had  already  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 

Democratic  party.     Where  that  was  the  case 

Federal  there  was  little  trouble,  but  the  amendments 

intervention.  ' 

were  more  or  less  evaded.  Where  Republican 
governments  held  power  great  disturbance  and  unend- 
ing controversy  prevailed.  Disputes  often  arose  over  the 
action  of  the  returning  boards,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
canvass  the  votes  and  report  the  results.  The  Democrats 
declared  that  the  boards  were  illegally  made  up,  or  that 
they  fraudulently  "  counted  out "  the  Democratic  candi- 
dates. The  Republicans  charged  their  opponents  with  en- 
deavoring by  violence  and  intimidation  to  suppress  the  negro 
vote.  When  such  quarrels  broke  out  the  President  would 
send  troops  to  quiet  disturbances  and  to  establish  authority ; 
but  he  grew  tired  of  the  continuing  disorder.* 

*  The  situation  in  Louisiana  was  especially  bad.  The  Constitution 
provides  (art.  iv,  sec.  4)  that  "  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to 
every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government."    This 


490  HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

A  very  noticeable  feature  of  those  years  was  the  number 

of  political  scandals  that  came  to  light  in  the  National 

Government.     In  1872  it  was  publicly  charged 

1  °  *  er'  tnat  prominent '  Eepublican  officeholders  had 
taken  bribes  from  a  company  known  as  the  Credit  Mo- 
bilier.*  An  investigation  was  made  into  all  the  charges, 
and  resulted  in  finding  clear  proof  of  the  guilt  of  two  con- 
gressmen, one  of  whom  had  been  the  company's  chief  in- 
strument for  furthering  its  interests  by  underhand  and 
corrupt  methods.  The  investigating  committee  recom- 
mended the  expulsion  of  these  men,  but  the  House  con- 
tented itself  with  "  absolute  condemnation  "  of  their  con- 
duct. Happily  the  ablest  leaders  to  whom  dishonesty  had 
been  imputed  were  exonerated  by  an  examination  of  the 
facts. 

Other  scandals  than  the  Credit  Mobilier  were  soon  un- 
earthed. It  was  found  that  a  great  conspiracy  had  been 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  cheating  the  Gov- 

^e  T^7S?y  ernment  in  the  collection  of  the  internal-reve- 
ring, 1875. 

nue  tax  on  distilled  liquors.  This  "whisky 
ring  "  included  men  high  in  power  and  influence.  Through 
the  untiring  energies  of  Mr.  Bristow,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  criminals  were  hunted  down,  the  ring  broken 
up,  and  a  number  of  the  guilty  punished. 

About  this  same  time  articles  of  impeachment  were 
brought  by  the  House  against  William  W.  Belknap,  the 

clause  furnished  the  legal  justification  for  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  National  Government.  Read  Wilson,  Division,  etc.,  pp.  275-277 ; 
Lalor,  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  ii,  pp.  784-788. 

*  This  corporation  organized  under  a  charter  from  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature.  It  received  through  roundabout  and  corrupt  meth- 
ods immense  profits  for  the  construction  of  a  portion  of  the  Union  1'ac.ific 
Railroad.  "  The  Credit  Mobilier  was,  in  short,  the  first,  greatest,  and 
most  scandalous  of  the  '  construction  companies  '  which  have  since  .  .  . 
made  bankrupt  so  many  railroad  enterprises."  Mcrriam,  Life  and 
Times  of  Samuel  Bowles,  vol.  ii,  p.  225 ;  see  also  Hinsdale,  Campaign 
Text-book  for  1880,  p.  170. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877. 


491 


Secretary  of   War.     He  was  charged  with  receiving  bribes, 

and  there  was  no  doubt  of  his  guilt.     To  escape  conviction 

he  hastily  resigned  his  office,  and  then  denied 

Secretary  ot  J 

War  impeached,  that  the  Senate  had  the  right  to  consider 
1876,  charges  against  a  person  who  was  no  longer  a 

"  civil  officer  of  the  United  States."  *  The  trial  was  never- 
theless begun,  but  did  not  result  in  conviction.  Most  of 
those  voting  in  favor  of  acquittal  said  that  they  did  so  be- 
cause they  believed  that  the  Senate  had  no  jurisdiction. 


-'--./    >ONT.  TER        j  \      ^^ 

Mt-&r JrfF^ 

j   TER.       !        \  wis  m 


^wC^r^ri TER'  )    \Hf  P\   A  A 

I     "-J--J  ter,   j r    -\ (J..;..2^r';r"  V<| 

*      \    NEV-       UTAH  'I         "'-I  NEB'       \ ^IU-»HoloHipLt^202 

*V\  TER,      i       COL.       i  \  \        !       h-^:K^ 

\  \        /-.  /  i         KAN.  MO.  >        lyf        TO  VA.    \J 

\    \  Amz-  I  n.mex  1 1  ,nd,a^'1 — Tj^jC --   r 

\       (  tfr       I  j       LTER'      j  ark.  / f \     Xs.c.y 

\ ■     ~n-     :  Ten  • — _      '  .  !       <         v.      r 


INDIAN  I 
-TER.        J  ARK. 

1   %  \  ALA.\   ga. 


TEXAS 


-\  £? 


:LA.; 


)  2    i 


Map  showing  Western  Extension  of  Population  in  1870. 

Just  at  the  close  of  Grant's  first  administration  Con- 
gress passed  an  act  increasing  the  salary  of  the  President, 
members  of  Congress,  and  other  officers.  It 
provided  that  the  President  should  receive  fifty 
thousand  dollars  instead  of  half  that  sum,  as 
heretofore,  and  that  members  of  Congress  should  receive 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  instead  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars.  This  Congress  was  nearly  at  an  end,  but, 
regardless  of  that  fact,  the  act  declared  that  its  members 


Salary  grab 
1873. 


*  See  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  4. 


492  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

should  receive  the  increased  salary  for  the  two  years  just 
closing.  Great  indignation  was  aroused  in  the  country  by 
this  calm  appropriation  of  the  public  funds.  Some  mem- 
bers paid  back  the  money  into  the  Treasury  to  appease 
their  own  consciences  and  to  help  quiet  the  tumult.  The 
next  Congress  repealed  the  act,  save  such  portions  as  pro- 
vided for  increased  pay  to  the  President  and  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  It  must  be  said  that  previous  Congresses 
had  passed  similar  laws  and  made  them  retroactive.  But 
the  people  now  thought,  without  distinction  of  party,  that 
the  "  salary  grab  "  was  an  unworthy  example  of  avarice  and 
greed. 

For  some  years  after  the  war  the  business  interests  of 
the  country  seemed  to  prosper.  It  was  a  period  of  great 
enterprise.  Kailroads  were  built  and  extended 
I873am° °  ou^  °^  a^  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the  popu- 
lation ;  all  kinds  of  industries  appeared  to  be 
thriving ;  men  entered  boldly  into  new  undertakings.  The 
war  seemed  rather  to  have  stimulated  industry  than  to 
have  checked  it.  But  the  day  of  reckoning  was  sure  to 
come.  The  finances  were  not  in  a  good  condition,  inasmuch 
as  paper  money  still  circulated  and  no  law  had  been  passed 
providing  for  payment  in  specie.*  Commerce  was  there- 
fore built  on  an  uncertain  foundation.  In  1873  a  great 
commercial  panic  swept  over  the  country.  Enterprise  and 
wild  speculation  were  sharply  brought  to  a  standstill.  Fac- 
tories were  closed  and  the  usual  suffering  ensued  among 
the  poorer  people,  who  were  thus  deprived  of  means  of 
livelihood.  Many  men  seemed  to  believe  that  the  need  of 
the  hour  was  more  money,  and  Congress  passed  a  bill  for 
the  increase  of  the  currency.  Grant  vetoed  the  measure, 
because  he  thought  that  such  action  simply  aggravated  the 

*  In  1869  a  bill  was  passed  known  as  a  bill  "to  strengthen  the  pub- 
lic credit,"  wherein  the  United  States  "  solemnly  "  pledged  itself  "to 
make  provision  at  the  earliest  practicable  period  for  the  redemption  of 
the  United  States  notes  in  coin." 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877.  493 

evil.     In  1875  a  law  was  passed  providing  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  "  greenbacks  "  in  coin  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1879.  .  When  that  day  arrived   the   "  resump- 
esump  ion.        ^Qn  „  ^  Specie  payment  was,  as  we  shall  see, 
entered  upon  without  difficulty. 

The  completion  of  a  century  of  national  existence  was 

celebrated  in  1876  by  an  exposition  at  Philadelphia,  in  which 

all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world  took  part. 

The  Centennial    The  immense  development  of  the  United  States 

Exposition.  r 

in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years  was  here 
brought  to  view.  In  the  invention  of  useful  machinery 
the  Americans  had  evidently  kept  pace  with  or  surpassed 
the  people  of  Europe.  Other  countries  learned  much  from 
the  exhibition  of  American  machines  and  implements, 
many  of  which  were  of  unique  model.  Our  own  country 
gathered  many  important  lessons,  helping  the  people  to  see 
their  own  strength  and  their  own  weakness.  The  exposition 
seems  to  have  acted  as  a  spur  to  the  artistic  and  aesthetic 
tastes  of  the  people.  One  can  not  tell  how  much  should  be 
credited  to  the  Centennial  Exposition,  but  it  appears  to  be 
true  that  from  about  this  time  there  was  a  new  appreciation 
of  art,  and  a  growing  desire  for  the  beauties  as  well  as  the 
comforts  of  life. 

The  country  might  well  pride  itself  in  this  centennial 
year  upon  its  wealth  and  prosperity,  upon  its  wonderful 

growth  in  a  single  century.  In  spite  of  the 
progress?7  and    &reat  civil  war>  population  had  increased  at  a 

rapid  rate,  even  in  the  last  decade,  and  was 
still  rapidly  increasing.  In  1870  the  census  returns  showed 
over  38,000,000  inhabitants,  and  in  1880  there  were  over 
50,000,000.  The  people  had  given  proof  of  great  capacity 
in  mechanical  invention ;  nature  had  been  brought  to  serve 
man  in  almost  every  field  of  work.  The  land  was  now  knit 
together  by  railroads  and  telegraphs.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  civil  war  a  telegraph  line  from  the  East  to  the  Pacific 
slope  was  constructed,  and  in  1869  the  Pacific  Railroad  was 


494  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

completed,  reaching  from  Omaha  to  San  Francisco.  It  had 
been  begun  during  the  war,  when  the  people  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  binding  East  and  West  together  by  the  firm  ties 
afforded  by  easy  and  speedy  communication.  Persons 
could  now  cross  the  continent  in  a  few  days.  Twenty  years 
before  the  journey  was  a  toilsome  task  of  weary  months. 

The  Eepublicans  nominated  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of 
Ohio,  for  the  presidency.  William  A.  Wheeler,  of  New 
BepuMican  York,  was  selected  for  the  vice  -  presidency. 
Convention,  The  platform  of  the  party  gave  no  indication 
of  any  change  or  material  advance  in  policy, 
but  it  spoke  out  frankly  in  favor  of  resumption  of  specie 
payment. 

The  Democrats  nominated  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New 
York,  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana.  Tilden  was 
a  man  of  great  native  ability,  a  lawyer  of  wide 
Democratic  reputation  and  skill.  As  governor  of  his  State 
he  had  relentlessly  attacked  the  corrupt  Canal 
ring  and  the  groups  of  thieving  officials  that  were  plunder- 
ing the  treasury  of  New  York.  The  platform  of  the  party 
was  largely  made  up  of  a  series  of  demands  for  "  reform." 
It  denounced  the  "  financial  imbecility  and  immorality  "  of 
the  Republicans,  and  demanded  the  repeal  of  the  Resump- 
tion Act  of  1875. 

There  were  two  other  parties  in  this  campaign,  the 
Greenback  party  and  the  Prohibition  party.  The  former 
demanded  the  repeal  of  the  Resumption  Act, 
Other  parties.  ^  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  a  paper 
currency  "  convertible  on  demand  into  United  States  obli- 
gations." In  other  words,  they  did  not  want  gold  and 
silver  as  money,  but  pieces  of  paper  stamped  by  the  Gov- 
ernment and  issued  at  its  discretion.  The  Prohibitionists 
were  in  favor  of  making  the  liquor  traffic  wholly  illegal. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  doubtful,  so  doubtful  that 
people  were  in  consternation  and  perplexity.  Tilden  re- 
ceived one  hundred  and  eighty-four  electoral  votes ;  only 


ADMINISTRATION   OF  GRANT— 1869-1877. 


495 


Kesult  of 
election  in 
doubt, 


The  returning 
boards. 


one  more  was  needed  to  elect  him.  From  four  States — 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Oregon — contradic- 
tory electoral  certificates  were  presented,  one  set 
announcing  that  Republican  electors  had  been 
chosen,  the  other  that  Democratic  electors 
had  been  chosen.  In  each  of  the  three  Southern  States 
there  was  a  returning  board,  to  which  the  results  of  the 
election  from  various  parts  of  the  State  were  reported,  and 
whose  duty  it  then  was  to  declare  the  result.  All  through 
reconstruction  times  these  boards  had  exercised 
a  wide  discretion  and  wielded  almost  unlimited 
authority.  They  were  wont  at  times  to  cast 
out  the  votes  of  some  precincts 
on  the  ground  that  the  election 
had  been  fraudulent ;  and  in  this 
way  the  reconstructed  govern- 
ments had  perpetuated  their 
power.  The  Republican  State 
governments  felt  that  only  in 
this  way  could  they  keep  the 
Democrats  from  gaining  control 
of  the  State  by  stealth  or  violence 
and  intimidation.  The  tempta- 
tion for  the  returning  boards  to 
use  their  unrestricted  authority  c>£^^/  ^.J^fot 
willfully  and  corruptly  was  very 

great,  and  it  is  plain  enough  that  to  leave  the  decision  of  an 
election  with  a  group  of  men  whose  interests  prompt  them 
to  defend  their  own  authority  is  practically  to  make  popular 
government  a  nullity.  The  whole  situation  was  one  of  the 
unfortunate  results  of  the  distrust  and  ill  feeling  that 
naturally  ensued  after  the  war.  Now  in  this  election  the 
Florida  and  Louisiana  returning  boards  cast  out  the  vote  of 
certain  precincts  as  tainted  with  fraud,  and  declared  the 
Republican  electors  chosen.  The  Democratic  electors  also 
obtained  certificates,  in  Florida  from  a  Democratic  member 


496  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

of  the  returning  board,  in  Louisiana  from  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  governor,  who  claimed  his  own  election. 
From  South  Carolina  there  were  double  returns,  the  Demo- 
crats claiming  that  the  presence  of  Federal  troops  had 
interfered  with  the  freedom  of  the  election,  and  that 
they  had  been  wrongfully  counted  out.  In  Oregon  a  post- 
master had  been  chosen  elector,  and  the  question  arose 
as  to  whether  he  was  qualified  to  sit,  being  a  Federal  office- 
holder.* 

The  situation  was  grave.  Up  to  this  time  Congress  had 
neglected  to  make  suitable  provision  for  the  settlement  of 
such  disputes  and  difficulties.  As  the  Demo- 
The  Electoral  cratg  nad  a  majority  in  the  House  and  the  Re- 
publicans in  the  Senate,  it  was  clear  that  some 
unusual  means  of  solving  the  question  must  be  found.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  the  correct  legal  rule  is  that  the 
Vice-President  is  given  the  duty  of  counting  the  votes  in 
the  presence  of  both  houses,  and  can  determine  the  validity 
of  the  votes  himself,  without  interference  or  direction  from 
Congress.  But  Congress  had  for  years  proceeded  on  a  dif- 
ferent theory,  and  had  assumed  its  own  right  to  settle  dis- 
putes. It  was  determined,  therefore,  that  an  extraordinary 
commission  should  be  appointed  and  charged  with  deter- 
mining the  validity  of  the  votes  in  question.  The  commis- 
sion numbered  fifteen.  There  were  five  members  from  each 
house  of  Congress  and  five  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
The  hope  was  to  secure  a  commission  that  was  non-partisan. f 
But  the  chief  responsibility  was  thrown  upon  Justice  Brad- 
ley, who  was  chosen  by  the  other  justices  as  the  fifteenth 

*  See  the  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  1,  §  2.  For  the  whole  contro- 
versy, see  Lalor,  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  ii,  p.  50 ;  Wilson,  Division,  etc.,  p.  283 ; 
Merriam,  Samuel  Bowles,  vol.  ii,  pp.  278-30G. 

t  The  Senate  appointed  three  Republicans  and  two  Democrats, 
the  House  three  Democrats  and  two  Republicans.  Four  justices  were 
appointed,  two  Republicans  and  two  Democrats.  The  four  justices 
selected  the  fifth. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GRANT— 1869-1877. 


497 


man.  He  voted  with  the  Republicans,  and  the  commission 
therefore  made  its  decision  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven  in 
favor  of  the  Hayes  electors.  The  basis  of  the  opinion  of 
the  majority  was  that  the  findings  of  the  returning  boards 
were  final,  that  the  duty  of  the  commission  was  to  decide 
what  were  the  legal  returns  from  the  States  in  contest,  and 
that  it  was  not  its  duty  to  investigate  the  merits  of  contro- 
versies within  States,  which  were  by  right  left  to  the  local 
authorities.  Thus  it  was  determined  that  Hayes  was  elected. 
Both  candidates  behaved  with  great  decorum  and  as  true 


DAKOTA 


^1M     \        MONTANA      r 
«£.      flDAHo\; 

/     Tfti  TER- 

I    n£v     :  v   •— 7 {       N 

cA  \  iUTAHi  L. 

I        L-  \  /   T£R_    J    COLO.     ! 


N.  MEX, 


THE  ELECTION 
OF  187G 

I  |  Republican 
I  I  Ihmocratic 
I         I  Disputed 


patriots  through  these  trying  days.  Excited  as  the  men 
of  both  parties  were,  there  was  not  much  feeling  of  uneasi- 
ness or  fear  in  the  country  at  large.  When  the  decision 
was  announced  the  defeated  party  accepted  defeat.  This 
whole  affair,  then,  was  a  victory  for  free  government ;  it 
showed  that  the  Americans  possessed  the  prime  requisite 
for  self-government — self-control.  "  It  has  been  reserved," 
said  President  Hayes,  "  for  a  government  of  the  people  .  .  . 
to  give  to  the  world  the  first  example  in  history  of  a  great 
nation,  in  the  midst  of  a  struggle  of  opposing  parties  for 


408 


HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


power,  hushing  its  party  tumults  to  yield  the  issues  of  the 
contest  to  adjustment  according  to  the  forms  of  law." 

References. 

The  best  short  accounts  are  in  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion, 
pp.  273-287 ;  Moore,  The  American  Congress,  pp.  435-475 ;  Dawes, 
Charles  Sumner,  pp.  273-322;  Julian,  Political  Recollections,  pp. 
326-374.  Longer  accounts:  Blaine,  Twenty  Years  in  Congress, 
Volume  II,  pp.  407-594;  Andrews,  History  of  the  Last  Quarter  Cen- 
tury; Church,  U.  S.  Grant,  361-423. 


W 


^M&MmtMi 


<%2>\-^ 


^'^^^^pt 


Two  of  the  Buildings  of  the  Centennial  Exposition 
at  Philadelphia.  1876. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Rutherford  B. 
Hayes. 


The  New  Nation— 1877-1899. 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  RUTHERFORD   B.   HAYES— 1877-1881. 

Not  much  was  known  by  the  people  at  large  of  the  real 
ability  and  character  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  when  he  en- 
tered upon  the  duties  of  the  presidency.  He 
was  born  in  Ohio  and  spent  his  life  there. 
Having  served  with  distinction  in  the  civil 
war,  he  was  elected,  at  its  close, 
as  a  representative  in  Congress. 
In  1868  he  was  chosen  governor 
of  his  State.  Again,  in  1875,  he 
was  elected  governor,  and  his 
success  in  the  election  of  that 
year  gave  him  something  of  a 
national  reputation.  He  was  by 
nature  so  modest  and  unpreten- 
tious that,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  held  a  number  of 
public  offices  and  had  been  hon- 
ored by  the  confidence  of  his 
State,  one  may  doubt  if  even 
the  people  of  Ohio  knew  him  at 
his  full  value  or  appreciated  his 
strength.  While  it  is  doubtless 
true  that  he  was  not  a  man  of  great  intellectual  brilliance, 
he  combined  in  a  rare  degree  mental  and  moral  qualities 
— firmness,  purity  of  purpose,  wisdom,  conscientiousness 
— that  well  fitted  him  for  the  great  tasks  of  his  admin- 

499 


500  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN   NATION. 

istration,  at  a  time  when  the  nation,  leaving  behind  it  in 
large  measure  the  memories  of  civil  conflict  and  sectional 
hatreds,  was  ready  to  move  on  to  new  duties  and  achieve- 
ments. The  great  need  of  the  day  was  quiet  bravery, 
not  ostentatious  vigor.  The  years  were  years  of  heal- 
ing ;  they  were  fortunately  uneventful.  When  the  next 
election  came,  it  was  felt  that  the  troublesome  days  of  re- 
construction were  gone;  that,  although  there  were  jealous- 
ies and  heartburnings  still,  North  and  South  were  once 
more  growing  together  in  national  feeling  and  spirit. 

One  of  the  President's  first  acts  was  to  withdraw  the 
troops  from  the  support  of  the  Eepublican  government  in 

_. , ,  .  ,  the  Southern  States  where  such  government 
Withdrawal  of  .  te 

troops  from  still  retained  power.  His  words  are  so  momen- 
the  South.  tous,  as  they  indicate  a  different  policy  on  the 

part  of  the  Federal  authority,  that  they  deserve  quoting  : 
"  In  my  opinion  there  does  not  now  exist  in  that  State 
(South  Carolina)  such  domestic  violence  as  is  contemplated 
by  the  Constitution  as  the  grounds  upon  which  the  military 
power  of  the  National  Government  may  be  invoked  for  the 
defense  of  the  State.  There  are,  it  is  true,  grave  and  se- 
rious disputes,  .  .  .  but  these  are  to  be  settled  ...  by  such 
orderly  and  peaceable  methods  as  may  be  provided  by  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State.  I  feel  assured  that  no 
resort  to  violence  is  contemplated  in  any  quarter,  but  that, 
on  the  contrary,  the  disputes  in  question  are  to  be  settled 
solely  by  such  peaceful  remedies  as  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  State  provide."  So  at  length  the  Southern 
States  were  left  to  themselves.  We  need  blame  no  one  that 
the  difficulties  had  lasted  so  long,  but  it  was  well  that  the 
day  of  interference  was  now  gone. 

The  uneasiness  of  the  people  on  the  money  question 
had  not  been  put  at  rest  by  the  passage  of  the  Resumption 
Act,  nor  yet  by  the  utter  defeat  of  the  "  Greenback  "  ticket 
in  the  late  election.  Some  people  felt  that  recent  legisla- 
tion on  money  matters  had  been  in  favor  of  the  bondhold- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  HAYES— 1877-1881.  501 

ers,  and  had  disregarded  the  needs  of  the  people.     A  law 
had  been  passed  in  Grant's  first  term  pledging  the  Govern- 
ment ultimately  to  pay  the  bonds  in  coin.     In 
Financial  1873  silver  was  demonetized — in  other  words, 

the  United  States  mint  was  no  longer  to  coin  sil- 
ver dollars.  The  silver  dollar  was  then  rarely  seen  in  circula- 
tion, because  it  was  of  more  value  than  the  gold  dollar,  and 
was  therefore  exported  to  Europe,  where  the  silver  was 
worth  more  as  bullion  than  here  as  coin.  There  was  so 
much  silver  in  it  that,  at  the  market  price  of  the  bullion, 
it  was  worth  one  dollar  and  two  cents  in  gold.  At  this 
same  time  an  act  was  passed  ordering  the  coinage  of  the 
so-called  "  trade  dollar."  This  coin  was  intended  not  for 
domestic  circulation,  but  to  be  used  in  trade  with  the  Ori- 
ental nations,  and  it  was  not  made  a  legal  tender.  After 
1873,  however,  the  silver  mines  of  the  country  began  to  turn 
out  greatly  increased  quantities  of  ore.  The  opening  up  of 
these  mines  is  a  matter  of  great  moment  in  our  industrial 
as  well  as  in  our  financial  history,  for  the  new  West  was 
now  rapidly  building  up,  with  silver  as  a  chief  product. 
There  was  a  demand  for  the  recognition  of  this  metal  in 
the  national  coinage.  In  1878  the  Bland- Allison  Bill  was 
passed  by  Congress,  providing  for  the  remonetization  of 
silver.  According  to  the  terms  of  the  act,  the  Government 
was  to  buy  each  month  not  less  than  two  million  dollars'  nor 
more  than  four  million  dollars'  worth  of  the  white  metal, 
and  to  coin  this  bullion  into  standard  dollars.  This  dollar 
was  made  legal  tender,  and  was  to  be  of  the  same  weight 
and  fineness  *  as  before  1873,  although  now  silver  was  of 
much  less  value  on  the  markets  of  the  world  than  before  its 
demonetization.!     President  Hayes  vetoed  the  bill,  but  it 

*  By  fineness  is  meant  the  purity  of  the  coin — that  is  to  say,  the 
amount  of  silver  or  gold  in  proportion  to  alloy.  The  standard  silver 
dollar  contains  900  parts  pure  silver  and  100  parts  copper  alloy,  and 
weighs  412£  grains.     The  gold  coin  is  of  the  same  fineness. 

f  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  since  1870  a  number  of  the  European 
states  had  given  up  the  use  of  silver  as  a  standard  money. 


502  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  passed  over  his  veto.  Thus  ended  the  first  important 
discussion  of  the  silver  question.  A  final  solution  of  the 
problem  was  not  reached. 

In  the  summer  of  1877  a  great  strike  took  place  among 
the  workmen  of  the  country,  chiefly  the  employees  of  the 
Northern  railroads,  who  complained  because  of 
Strikes  and  a  reduction  of  wages.  In  many  places  there 
were  disastrous  riots  and  great  destruction  of 
property.  The  commencement  of  the  difficulty  was  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Eailroad,  but  the  strike  extended  to 
nearly  all  the  Northern  lines  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
strikers  took  forcible  possession  of  the  tracks  at  princi- 
pal junctions,  and  prevented  the  forwarding  of  goods  or 
the  dispatching  of  passenger  trains.  The  whole  internal 
commerce  of  the  country  was  blocked  and  thrown  into  con- 
fusion. Fights  between  mobs  and  the  police  authorities 
occurred,  and  the  militia  was  called  out  to  suppress  the 
rioting  in  a  number  of  the  States.  Where  the  State  troops 
were  unable  or  unwilling  to  check  the  insurrection  the 
Federal  army  was  used  for  the  purpose.  The  most  serious 
disorder  occurred  in  Pittsburg,  where  angry  and  excited 
mobs  burned  and  pillaged  and  robbed  ruthlessly,  destroying 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  railroad  property  and  freight. 
After  about  two  weeks  of  lawlessness  and  rioting  traffic 
was  resumed  on  most  of  the  principal  roads  of  the  country, 
and  soon  normal  conditions  were  re-established  everywhere. 

In  1879  an  interesting  controversy  arose  between  the 
President  and  Congress.  The  intention  of  the  Democrats 
_    .,   ,     ,      in  Congress  was  to  restrain  the  Federal  Gov- 

President  and  °  ,  . 

Congress  at  eminent  from  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  the 
variance.  Southern  States,  or  from  making  use  of  the 

Federal  troops  to  guard  elections  or  to  protect  the  blacks. 
In  February,  1879,  the  House  passed  the  Army  Appropria- 
tion Bill  with  a  "  rider  "  directed  against  the  use  of  troops 
"  to  keep  peace  at  the  polls,"  and  also  passed  other  appro- 
priation bills  with  riders  that  repealed  the  essential  parts 


ADMINISTRATION  OP   HAYES— 1877-1881.  503 

of  the  general  election  law.  The  Senate  refused  to  pass 
the  bills  and  they  did  not  become  laws.  A  new  Congress 
came  into  existence  March  4.  A  special  session  was  sum- 
moned. Both  branches  were  now  Democratic.  Various 
appropriation  bills  were  passed  with  riders,*  the  purpose  of 
which  was  to  curtail  the  power  of  the  General  Government 
in  its  control  over  elections.  The  Democrats  declared  that 
their  purpose  was  simply  to  erase  from  the  statute  books 
the  legislation  which  the  war  had  produced,  for  which  there 
was  now  no  need,  and  which  was  an  insult  to  the  States  and 
a  menace  to  local  government.  The  Republicans,  in  irrita- 
tion, asserted  that  the  Democrats  were  intent  upon  "  starv- 
ing the  Government  to  death."  The  President  vetoed  the 
bills  with  the  riders,  saying  that  a  rider  was  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  House  to  force  the  other  branches  of  the 
Government  to  agree  to  undesired  legislation.  Congress 
could  not  pass  the  bills  over  the  veto.  Some  of  the  appro- 
priations were  then  made  without  the  rider,  but  the  bill 
providing  for  the  payment  of  the  Federal  judiciary  was  not 
passed,  and  all  the  court  officials  went  without  pay  until 
provision  was  made  for  them  at  the  next  session.  This 
contest  between  the  President  and  Congress  is  of  much 
interest.  Whatever  one  may  think  of  the  purposes  of  the 
Democrats,  Hayes  seems  to  have  been  quite  right  in  main- 
taining that  the  practice  of  adding  riders  to  appropriation 
bills  is  productive  of  much  mischief,  and  that  if  continued 
it  would  throw  nearly  all  legislative  power  into  the  hands 
of  the  House,  because  it  alone  can  originate  bills  for  raising 
revenue,  and  has  assumed  the  sole  power  of  originating 
general  appropriation  bills. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  during  the  war  the  Gov- 

*  A  rider  is  a  clause  attached  to  an  appropriation  bill  and  referring 
to  a  different  subject  than  the  main  body  of  the  bill,  the  object  being 
to  force  the  measure  on  the  other  house  or  the  President  by  annexing 
it,  or  "  tacking  "  it,  as  the  English  say,  to  appropriations  for  needful 
purposes. 

83 


504  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

eminent  issued  paper  money  and  made  it  legal  tender. 
These  notes  fell  greatly  in  value,  and  although,  when  the 

credit  of  the  Government  grew  stronger  in 
payments  after  years,  the  notes  rose  again  they  furnished 

resumed,  1879,  at  ^e  best  a  fluctuating  and  uncertain  cur- 
rency. In  1875,  as  we  have  seen,  an  act  was  passed  provid- 
ing for  a  return  to  specie  payments  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1879 — providing,  in  other  words,  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  "  greenbacks  "  in  coin.  Preparations  were  made 
in  the  course  of  Hayes's  administration  to  resume  specie 
payments  on  the  day  set.  Gold  and  silver  coin  and  bullion 
were  collected  in  the  Treasury,  and  so  complete  and  thor- 
ough was  the  preparation,  that  when  the  time  of  resump- 
tion arrived  there  were  only  a  few  straggling  demands  for 
coin ;  the  paper  was  already  at  par  with  coin. 

As  the  election  of  1880  drew  near  the  Eepublican  party 
was  in  good  condition  and  hopeful  of  success.     The  wise 

and  conservative  administration  of  President 
Republican         Hayes  had  won  popular  respect.      There  had 

Convention.  J  \  r  .       f 

been  no  scandals  m  public  life.  The  resump- 
tion of  specie  payments  had  seemingly  secured  prosperity. 
The  various  elements  of  the  party  were  united.  The  con- 
vention chose  General  James  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  as  candi- 
date for  the  presidency ;  Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York, 
was  nominated  for  the  vice-presidency. 

The  Democrats  nominated  General  Winfield  S.  Han- 
cock, of  Pennsylvania,  and  William  H.  English,  of  Indiana. 

The  platform  declared  among  other  things  for 
Democratic         "home   rule,   honest   money,   .   .    .   the  strict 

Convention.  ,  «" 

maintenance  of  the  public  iaith,  .  .  .  and  a 
tariff  for  revenue  only."  Candidates  were  also  placed  be- 
fore the  people  by  the  Prohibition  party  and  the  Greenback 
party. 

The  declaration  of  the  Democrats  in  favor  of  "  a  tariff 
for  revenue  only "  caused  considerable  discussion  during 
the  months  that   succeeded  the  convention,  especially  in 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  GARFIELD— 1881.  505 

the  last  few  weeks  preceding  tjie  election.  For  the  first 
time  since  the  war  the  two  parties  differed  radically  and 
explicitly  on  the  tariff  issue.  It  is  true  the 
wad" ?/t£d  Democrats  were  not  as  yet  wholly  given  over 
campaign.  ^o  the  principle  announced  in  the  platform,  but 

from  this  time  on  the  party  consistently  attacked  the  reve- 
nue policy  of  the  Kepublicans,  and  the  latter  party  took  a 
stronger  hold  upon  the  principle  of  protection.  The  South- 
ern question  was  not  much  discussed  during  the  canvass ; 
indeed,  there  was  less  discussion  of  sectional  issues  than 
there  had  been  for  nearly  forty  years.  Garfield  and  Arthur 
were  elected. 

References. 

Short  account:  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  p.  288  et  seq. 
Longer  accounts :  Blaine,  Twenty  Years  in  Congress,  Volume  II,  pp. 
595-676;  Cox,  Three  Decades,  Chapter  XXXVIII;  Stanwood,  His- 
tory of  the  Presidency,  Chapter  XXV. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JAMES  A.   GARFIELD   AND 
CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR— 1881-1885. 

Few  men  have  taken  the  presidential  chair  whose  train- 
ing for  executive  duties  had  been  so  wide  and  various  as 
was  Garfield's.  Graduating  from  college  in 
SjSfSa  1856,  he  became  a  professor  in  Hiram  College, 

Ohio,  and  soon  after  president  of  the  institu- 
tion. He  served  in  the  Union  army,  becoming  major  gen- 
eral. He  was  elected  to  Congress  during  the  rebellion,  and 
served  as  a  member  of  the  House  from  1863  to  1880.  He 
was  a  man  of  broad  general  culture,  of  scholarly  tastes,  and 
of  unusual  capacity  as  a  debater  and  legislator.  He  was 
elected  senator  from  Ohio  in  1880,  but  was  chosen  to  the 
presidency  before  taking  his  seat  as  senator. 

Although  the  administration  of  Hayes  had  done  much 
to  bring  together  the  discordant  elements  in  the  Republi- 


506  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

can  party,  there  were  still  differences  and  contending  fac- 
tions.    The  radical  element  of  the  party,  which  had  been 

strongly  in  sympathy  with  Grant's  administra- 
te Eepublican  tion  and  had  desired  his  nomination  for  a  third 
party.  term  in  1880,  were  known  as  "  Stalwarts."   They 

objected  to  the  conciliatory  spirit  of  the  Hayes  administra- 
tion. Their  opponents  were  commonly  called  "  Half-breeds," 
a  term  of  contempt  bestowed  upon  them  because  of  their 
supposed  lukewarmness  and  their  faint-hearted  devotion  to 
Republican  principles.  As  the  differences  were  largely  per- 
sonal, the  issues  between  the  two  factions  were  not  very 
clearly  defined.  The  leader  of  the  "  Stalwarts  "  was  Eoscoe 
Conkling,  senator  from  New  York. 

Garfield  seems  to  have  sought  to  reconcile  both  factions, 
or  at  least  not  to  arouse  the  enmity  of  the  "  Stalwarts."    In 

this  he  was  not  entirely  successful.  By  ap- 
i*eVe™ate3y0f   Pointing  to  the  collectorship  of  the  port  of 

New  York  a  man  not  acceptable  to  Conkling 
he  awakened  the  resentment  of  that  senator.  For  some 
years  it  had  been  thought  to  be  the  right  of  the  senators  to 
dictate  the  more  important  appointments  within  their  re- 
spective States.  This  principle  the  President  had  violated. 
To  carry  out  and  substantiate  this  right  and  prerogative 
Conkling  and  his  colleague  in  the  Senate,  Thomas  C.  Piatt, 
resigned,  appealing,  as  it  were,  to  their  State  for  ratification 
of  their  conduct  in  resisting  the  President.  The  Legisla- 
ture, however,  refused  to  re-elect  the  two  senators. 

Perhaps  these  heated  controversies  and  the  consequent 
excitement  in  political  circles  brought  about  indirectly  the 

death  of  the  President.  A  hare-brained  fanatic 
Assassination      ^y  ^he  name  of  Guiteau  came  to  Washington 

as  an  applicant  for  office.  As  he  did  not  meet 
with  success,  his  mind  seems  to  have  been  preyed  upon  by 
his  failure  and  inflamed  by  the  political  discussions  with 
which  the  air  was  heavy.  He  became  imbued  with  a  hatred 
of  the  President,  and  cherished  the  idea  that  his  death 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  ARTHUR— 1881-1885. 


507 


would  unite  the  party.  On  the  morning  of  July  2d,  as 
Garfield  was  entering  a  railway  station  in  Washington, 
Guiteau  shot  him.  For  some  time  hopes  were  entertained 
that  the  wound  was  not  mortal,  but  after  enduring  great 
suffering  with  fortitude  and  hopefulness  the  President  died, 
September  19,  1881,  at  Elberon,  X.  J.  The  people  of  the 
entire  country,  and  indeed  of  the  civilized  world,  were 
deeply  affected  by  this  awful  tragedy  and  crime. 

Vice-President  Arthur  took  the  oath  as  President  at  his 
home  in  New  York,  September  20,  1881.     When  he  was 
elected  Vice-President  no  one  knew  much  of 


Accession  of 

Chester  A,  his  qualifications  for 

office.   He  had  taken 


Arthur, 


a  prominent  and  active  part  in 
politics,  and  had  been  for  some 
years  collector  of  the  port  of  New 
York.  He  proved  during  his  term 
of  office  to  be  a  man  of  rare  ad- 
ministrative ability  and  pure  pur- 
poses, and  soon  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  nation. 

The  trouble  between  Garfield 

and  the  New  York  senators,  and, 

above  all,  the  assas- 

The  civil-serv-     sinati0n  of  the  Presi- 

ice  commission, 

dent,  called  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  to  the  evils  and  follies  of  the  spoils 
system.  In  two  successive  annual  messages  Arthur  argued 
strongly  and  wisely  in  favor  of  civil-service  reform,  and 
pressed  upon  the  attention  of  Congress  the  desirability  of 
new  legislation  regarding  appointments  to  office.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1883,  Congress  passed  an  act  known  as  the  "  Pendleton 
Act,"  authorizing  the  President  to  direct  that  appointments 
should  be  made  after  competitive  examinations.  He  was 
also  empowered  to  establish  a  civil-service  commission.  The 
President  put  the  act  immediately  into  effect,  and  since  that 


508  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

time  the  regulations  have  been  gradually  extended  by  his 
successors,  until  at  the  present  time  a  very  large  portion  of 
the  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  Government  are  bestowed  not 
as  a  reward  for  party  fealty,  but  after  an  examination  made 
for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  merit  of  the  applicants 
and  their  respective  fitness  for  official  duties. 

The  prosperity  of  the  country  was  so  great  during  these 
years,  and  importations  from  foreign  countries  were  so 
large,  that  the  public  moneys  derived  from  the 
The  surplus  and  duties  accumulated  in  the  Treasury  until  the 
Government  actually  had  more  money  than  it 
knew  what  to  do  with.  The  immense  public  debt  rolled 
up  by  the  rebellion  was  rapidly  being  paid ;  but  the  bond- 
holders, resting  secure  in  the  credit  of  the  Government, 
were  not  willing  to  receive  payment  for  their  bonds  until 
they  were  due.  It  seemed  desirable  to  many  persons  that 
the  tariff  duties  should  be  lessened,  because  the  surplus 
was  unnecessary,'  and  might  be  even  harmful  by  encour- 
aging public  extravagance,  if  not  corruption.  A  new  tariff 
law  was  passed  that  slightly  reduced  the  duties.  In  1884 
still  another  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House.  It  was  a 
Democratic  measure  and  was  supported  by  the  main  body 
of  the  party,  but  it  was  defeated  by  the  combined  votes  of 
the  Eepublicans  and  a  small  number  of  Democrats  who 
were  opposed  to  the  reduction  of  the  tariff. 

For  some  years  there  had  existed,  especially  in  the 
Pacific  States,  a  strong  sentiment  against  the  unrestricted 
immigration  of  the  Chinese.  The  increasing 
Seffldnese!  number  of  immigrants  had  caused  consterna- 
tion, not  to  say  alarm,  in  parts  of  the  West, 
and  it  seemed  desirable  to  take  steps  to  restrict  the  immi- 
gration. In  1880  a  treaty  was  made  at  Peking  between  the 
Chinese  Government  and  a  commission  from  the  United 
States,  providing  that  this  country  might  place  restrictions 
upon  the  entrance  of  laborers  from  China.  Two  years  later 
a  law  was  passed  by  Congress  suspending  the  right  of  Chi- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  ARTHUR— 1881-1885.  509 

nese  workmen  to  come  to  this  country  for  the  period  of  ten 
years,  and  in  1892  the  period  of  exclusion  was  extended  for 
another  term  of  ten  years,  and  severe  and  strict  regulations 
were  provided  to  prevent  the  breach  of  the  law. 

The  presidential  canvass  of  1884  was  a  very  stirring 
one.  The  Republicans  nominated  James  G.  Blaine  and 
John  A.  Logan;  the  Democrats,  Grover  Cleveland  and 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks.     There  were  two  other  parties  that 

put  candidates  in  the  field.  The  "  People's 
TfhiR84Ctl0n       ParW  which  was  really  to  a  great  extent  the 

old  Greenback  party  rechristened,  nominated 
General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  the  Prohibitionists  John  P. 
St.  John.  The  tariff  was  the  main  issue.  The  Republican 
platform  declared  for  a  continuance  of  the  protective  sys- 
tem, while  the  Democratic  platform  announced  that  the 
party  was  "  pledged  to  revise  the  tariff  in  a  spirit  of  fair- 
ness to  all  interests."  To  a  portion  of  his  party,  including 
a  number  of  able  and  influential  men,  Blaine  was  not  an 
acceptable  candidate.  These  persons,  calling  themselves 
Independent  Republicans,  and  commonly  known  as  "  Mug- 
wumps," advocated  the  election  of  Cleveland.  The  result 
of  the  election  turned  upon  the  vote  of  New  York.  Out- 
side of  that  State  Blaine  had  182  electoral  votes  and  Cleve- 
land 183.  The  contest  in  New  York  was  so  close  and  the 
outcome  so  doubtful  that  it  was  not  known  for  several  days 
after  the  election  which  of  the  two  candidates  was  elected. 
It  was  finally  determined  that  the  Democrats  had  carried 
the  State  by  1,047  votes.  Thus  Cleveland  was  chosen  by 
an  electoral  majority  of  37.  No  State  was  carried  by  either 
Butler  or  St.  John. 

References. 

Short  accounts  :  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  2G8-293  ; 
Stanwood,  History  of  the  Presidency,  Chapter  XXVII.  Longer 
account  :  Andrews,  History  of  the  Last  Quarter  Century. 


510  HISTORY    Of   THE    AMERICAN    NATION. 


FIRST   ADMINISTRATION    OF   GROVER   OLEVELAND- 

lHH.r>    I  HMD. 

Grover  Cleveland  bad  held  do  national  office  when  he 
vvaH  oalled  upon  to  take  up  the  duties  of  the  presidency. 

Be  first  won  attention  by  bis  services  as  Mayor 
flJJJJJ  d         of  Buffalo,  where   his  frank,  courageous   per 

formanoe  of  duly  and  bis  bold  use  of  the  veto 
power   oheoked    extravagant   anu!    foolish    legislation.      In 
1882  he  was  eleoted  Governor  of  New  5Tork,  in  which  po- 
sition   he    won    the  confidence  of    the  people    hy    (lie    diicet 
n<        of    bis    methods    and    the    fearlessness    with    which    he 

opposed  measures  that  seemed  to  him  harmful  to  the  public 
interei  ti , 

In  his  first  annual  message,  in  December  of  1885,  Cleve- 
land  oalled   the   attention  of  Congress  to  the   condition 
of  the  currency,     lie  showed  that  only  fifty 
l'|il!i1Ji"r         million  dollars,  out  of    nearly   two  hundred 

and  sixteen    million   silver  dollars  coined  in  a0- 

oordanoe  with  the  Bland  Allison  act,*  had  gone  into  circu- 
lation, and  he  deolared  that  the  oontinuanoe  of  silver  coin- 
age would  bring  the  Government  to  the  pass  when  it  would 
have  only  silver  money,  which  would  mean  that  the  cur- 
rency woidd  he  let  down  to  a  lower  standard  of  v;ilue,  inas- 
much as  the  silver  in  a  dollar  was  not  worth  a  dollar  in 
gold.  Nothing  was  done  hy  Congress  regarding  the  matter. 
It  was  believed  by  many  that  the  President's  fears  were 
fanoiful.  Some,  on  the  other  hand,  favored  the  "  free  coin- 
age "  of  silver;  in  other  words,  they  desired  that  the  Goi 
ernment  should  do  more  than  simply  purohase  a  limited 

ftmOUnt  Of    the    metal    and    coin     it;    they    desired    that   if 
should    coin    into   dollars,  freely  and   without    limit,   all    the 

silver  bullion  that  might  he  brought  to  the  mints.    These 

persons   declared    that    the    reason    for    the    fall  of   sil\cr   in 
*  Sec  i'*t^t>  r»Ol .     Taper  rvv\ .iflciilcM  woro  issiuul   under  this  act,  mid 

ireri  baton  bj  fchi  ptopW,  Inittari  of  iii«-  silver  tlwy  roprwwntod. 


FIRST  ADMINISTRATION  OK  OLKVULAND— 1885-1889.     511 


Presidential 

succession, 

1886. 


price  in  comparison  with  gold  was  because  the  Government 
made  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  latter  metal.    Other 

persons,  not  going  so  far  as  to  favor  free  coinage,  saw  no 
great  danger  in  existing  conditions,  and  no  law  was  passed, 
nor  was  the  time  yet  ripe  for  the  money  question  to  become 
a  party  issue. 

Vice-President  Hendricks  died  in  November,  1885.  This 
called  attention  once  more  to  the  desirability  of  changing 
the  line  of  succession  to  the  presidency,  in  case 
of  the  death  of  the  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent or  their  inability  to  act.  At  the  next 
session  of  Congress  a  bill  was  a*^ 

passed  providing  that  in  such 
a  contingency  the  Secretary  of 
State  should  succeed,  and,  if 
the  necessity  should  by  any  pos- 
sibility arise,  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet  should 
assume  the  duties  of  the  presi- 
dential office  in  the  following 
order:  (1)  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  (2)  Secretary  of  War, 
(3)  Attorney-General,  (4)  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  (5)  Post- 
master-General, (0)  Secretary 
of  the  Interior.  The  law  applies  only  to  such  persons  as  are 
constitutionally  eligible.*  The  Electoral  Count  Act  also 
became  law.  Its  object  is  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
disputes  as  that  of  1870,  by  providing  that  the 
to$Ml?"*  Statea  themselves  shall  provide  for  the  final 
"  determination  of  controversies  "  concerning 
the  election  of  presidential  electors. 

For  many  years  past  there  had  been  a  demand  for  a  law 
regulating    interstate   commerce.      Congress    has    no   au- 


*  The  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  1,  §  6. 


512  HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATIOtf. 

thority   to   regulate  trade   or   intercourse   between   places 
solely  within  the  limits-  of  a  State  and  not  directly  con- 
nected with  commerce  between   States.      But 
Interstate  interstate   commerce    is    subject    to    national 

Commerce  Act.  .  J 

legislation.*  The  railroads  had  for  some  time 
been  accustomed  to  discriminate  in  their  charges  in  favor 
of  some  shippers  and  against  others,  and  in  favor  of  some 
cities  and  against  others.  The  object  of  the  interstate  com- 
merce act  was  to  prevent  discrimination.  One  of  its  most 
important  clauses  provided  that  no  common  carrier  could 
charge  more  "  for  a  shorter  than  for  a  longer  distance  over 
the  same  line,  in  the  same  direction,  the  shorter  being  in- 
cluded within  the  longer  distance."  For  the  administra- 
tion of  the  law  a  commission  of  five  persons  was  created. 
This  is  a  very  important  measure,  and,  in  spite  of  many 
difficulties  and  embarrassments  in  enforcing  its  provisions, 
it  has  doubtless  done  something  to  bring  about  more  equi- 
table conditions  in  the  railway  service  of  the  country. 

The  labor  troubles  throughout  these  years  were  many 
and   serious.      There  were   numerous   strikes   in   different 

parts  of  the  country,  and  the  relations  between 

Labor  troubles.  ,  . 

employers  and  workmen  seemed  m  many  cases 
to  be  unsatisfactory  and  unwholesome.  The  labor  organi- 
zations, such  as  the  "  Knights  of  Labor,"  had  come  to  have 
a  wide  influence,  and  their  membership  was  very  large.  In 
1887  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  formed.  The 
object  of  these  organizations  was  the  betterment  of  the 
workmen  by  securing  higher  wages  and  shorter  hours,  by 
obtaining  better  legislation  affecting  labor,  and  by  prevent- 
ing useless  or  unprepared  strikes. 

Besides  the  regular  workmen  who  desired  good  wages 
and  reasonable  hours,  and  were  content  on  the  whole  with 
patient  and  sensible  methods  of  securing  their  ends,  there 
were  a  few  men  who  styled  themselves  anarchists  and  be- 


*  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  8,  §3. 


FIRST  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLEVELAND— 1885-1889.     513 

lievcd  that  a  better  social  and  industrial  condition  could 

be  brought  about  only  by  a  complete  destruction  of  the 

existing  social  order.     Such  persons  had  in  re- 

The  anarchists.       ,.,  ,,.  «,i  ,  -, 

ality  nothing  m  common  with  earnest  workmen; 
but  they  became  prominent  in  the  confusion  that  often  ac- 
companies a  large  strike,  however  legitimate  its  ends  may  be. 
In  the  spring  of  1886  a  serious  outbreak  of  violence  occurred 
in  Chicago.  A  number  of  policemen  were  killed  by  the 
explosion  of  a  dynamite  bomb  while  endeavoring  to  dis- 
perse a  crowd  listening  to  the  harangues  of  anarchists. 
Several  of  the  anarchists  were  arrested  and  punished. 

When  Congress  met  in  December,  1887,  the  President 
sent  in  a  message  dealing  exclusively  with  the  one  subject 

of  the  tariff.  There  was  little  doubt  among 
The  surplus  and   men  0f  either  party  that  the  surplus  was  too 

large,  and  many  felt  that  it  was  a  serious 
source  of  danger,  because  it  was  a  continuing  temptation  to 
extravagance  or  to  hasty  and  unwise  legislation.  The  Presi- 
dent argued  strenuously  in  favor  of  a  reduction  of  duties. 
While  advocating  the  imposition  of  lower  duties  on  raw 
materials  used  in  manufacturing,  he  called  special  attention 
to  the  tariff  on  wool,  which  he  declared  constituted  "  a  tax 
fastened  upon  the  clothing  of  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  the  land."  This  message  was  one  of  great  im- 
portance, because,  under  this  spur,  the  President's  party 
set  earnestly  at  work  to  revise  the  tariff  and  lower  the 
duties.  A  bill  directed  to  that  end  could  not  be  passed 
through  Congress  at  that  session,  but  the  tariff  necessarily 
became  the  great  question  of  the  presidential  canvass  of 
that  year. 

For  the  election  of  1888  the  Democrats  renominated 
Cleveland,  and  gave  the  second  place  on  the  ticket  to 
Allen  G.  Thurman,  of  Ohio.  They  declared  that  all  "  un- 
necessary taxation  is  unjust  taxation,"  *  that  the  policy  of 

*  This  meant  a  high  tariff,  which,  the  Democrats  asserted,  took  un- 
necessary money  from  the  people. 


514  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  party  was  "  to  enforce  frugality  in  the  public  expenses," 
that  a  vast  sum  of  money  was  being  "  drawn  from  the 
people  and  the  channels  of  trade  and  accu- 
The  el®ctlon  mulated  as  a  demoralizing  surplus  in  the 
national  Treasury."  The  Eepublicans  nomi- 
nated Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  and  Levi  P.  Morton, 
of  New  York.  They  announced  that  they  were  "  uncom- 
promisingly in  favor  of  the  American  system  of  protec- 
tion." They  declared  that  they  favored  reduction  of  the 
revenue  by  repealing  the  taxes  on  tobacco  and  "  spirits 
used  in  the  arts,"  and  would  prefer  the  entire  repeal  of 
the  internal  taxes  to  a  "surrender  of  any  part  of  our 
protective  system."  Candidates  were  also  put  in  the  field 
by  the  Prohibition  party,  and  nominations  were  made  by  a 
number  of  other  parties  whose  existence  was  indicative  of 
discontent  among  many  of  the  people,  especially  the  work- 
men and  farmers.  The  Eepublicans  were  successful  in  the 
election,  carrying  all  the  Northern  States  except  New  Jer- 
sey and  Connecticut. 

Before  Harrison  took  office  a  number  of  important  meas- 
ures became  law.     One  was  the  establishment  of  a  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture ;  another  was  a  bill  pro- 
Important  yiding  for  the  admission  of  the  States  of  North 

measureSi  ° 

Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Wash- 
ington (1889).*  Congress  also  passed  a  bill  for  the  return 
to  the  States  of  the  money  that  had  been  collected  during 
the  war  as  a  direct  tax,  but  the  President  vetoed  the  meas- 
ure. 

Refekences. 

Short  accounts:  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapter  XIII; 
Moore,  American  Congress,  pp.  482-491. 

*  The  next  year  Idaho  and  Wyoming  were  admitted. 


ADMINISTRATION   OP  HARRISON-1889-1893.         515 


Benjamin 
Harrison. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  BENJAMIN  HARRISON— 1889-1893. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  grandson  of  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, ninth  President  of  the  United  States,  was  educated 
in  Ohio,  graduating  from  Miami  University. 
After  leaving  college  he  studied  law,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  and  began  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Indianapolis.  Soon  after  the  outbreak  of 
the  civil  war  he  entered  the  army  as  a  colonel,  and  won  dis- 
tinction for  bravery  and  efficiency,  leaving  the  service  as  a 
brevet  brigadier  general.  He 
was  elected  senator  from  In- 
diana in  1880,  and  showed  in 
the  Senate  marked  ability  and 
capacity. 

In  the  autumn  of  1889  there 
assembled  in  Washington  a 
congress  of  delegates  from  the 
principal  states  of  this  hemis- 
phere. The  conference  was 
asked  for  by  this  Government, 
in  the  hope  that  cordial  and 
friendly  relations  might  be  per- 
manently established  between 
the  United  States  and  the  coun- 
tries of  Central  and  South 
America.  It  was  hoped  that  an  American  customs  union 
might  be  formed  for  the  promotion  of  trade  between  the  sev- 
^  eral  nations,  that  a  uniform  system  of  weights 

Pan-American  and  measures  might  be  agreed  upon,  a  common 
Congress.  silver  coin  adopted  to  serve  as  legal  tender  in  all 

business  transactions,  and  that  a  definite  plan  for  arbitration 
of  disputes  and  difficulties  might  be  recommended  to  the 
various  governments  represented.  This  congress  was  in  ses- 
sion several  months,  and,  while  not  accomplishing  so  much  as 
its  enthusiastic  promoters  desired,  it  undoubtedly  did  some- 


^wf^ 


516  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

thing  toward  bringing  the  nations  into  closer  and  more 
sympathetic  relations.  It  is  a  fact  of  no  little  meaning 
in  the  world's  history  that  the  representatives  of  many 
nations  holding  the  soil  of  two  continents  could  come 
together  in  peace  and  harmony  to  discuss  problems  of 
trade  and  endeavor  to  promote  good  fellowship  and  neigh- 
borly feeling. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  there  was  a  great  dis- 
cussion over  the  rules.  It  had  long  been  customary  for  a 
Eulesinthe  minority  to  block  the  progress  of  lawmaking 
House,  by  refusing  to  vote.     A  person  not  voting  was 

not  counted  as  present,  and  a  quorum,  there- 
fore, could  be  obtained  for  the  passage  of  a  measure  only 
when  the  majority  could  secure  the  presence  of  more  than 
half  of  all  the  members  of  the  House.  Thomas  B.  Reed, 
the  Speaker,  interfered  with  the  "  filibustering  "  tactics  of 
the  Democratic  minority*  in  the  House  by  counting  as 
part  of  the  quorum  all  who  were  present,  whether  they 
voted  or  not.  This  power  was  afterward  given  him  by  the 
rules  adopted  by  the  House,  f 

*  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  Republicans  had  used  like  tactics 
when  in  the  minority. 

f  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Speaker  of  the  House  is  not,  and  in- 
deed does  not  pretend  to  be,  the  impartial  presiding  officer  of  an  assem- 
bly, as  does  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  contrasts 
between  the  English  and  American  systems  are  more  striking  than  the 
similarities.  The  American  Speaker  is  ostensibly  and  actually  a  party 
leader ;  he  feels  the  responsibility  for  what  is  done  in  the  House,  and 
is  so  completely  a  master  of  the  situation  that  no  act  can  pass  without 
his  sanction.  By  refusing  to  "  recognize"  a  member  offering  or  advo- 
cating a  measure  to  which  he  is  opposed  he  can  keep  such  measures 
from  coming  before  the  House;  he  has  the  right  to  appoint  the  commit- 
tees, and  can  do  much  to  determine  the  general  character  of  legislation 
by  the  organization  of  the  committees.  Probably  no  Speaker  uses  this 
power  selfishly  and  arbitrarily;  some  leadership  and  responsibility  are 
absolutely  necessary  in  such  a  body  as  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
such  leadership  has  in  the  course  of  a  century  come  to  be  centered  in 
the  Speaker. 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  HARRISON— 1889-1893.         517 

Congress  took  up  the  consideration  of  the  tariff  and 
passed  the  McKinley  Bill.  It  was  decidedly  a  protective 
measure,  increasing  the  duties  on  many  im- 
Bffl  ?89onley  Porte(i  articles  with  the  purpose  of  encour- 
aging manufactures  and  protecting  domestic 
industries.  A  distinguishing  feature  of  this  bill  was  a 
provision  intended  to  promote  trade,  especially  with  the 
West  Indies  and  the  states  of  South  America.  It  was  pro- 
vided that  the  President  could  by  proclamation  impose  a 
duty  on  sugar  and  certain  other  commodities  coining  from 
countries  that  placed  import  duties  upon  our  products,  if 
in  the  President's  opinion  such  duties  were  "  reciprocally 
unequal  and  unreasonable,"  under  the  circum- 
Keciprocity.  stances#  This  was  practically  an  offer  to  the 
countries  of  Central  and  South  America  and  the  AVest 
Indies  to  allow  their  goods  to  come  in  free,  if  they  would 
in  return  admit  our  products  free. 

In  the  middle  of  the  summer  that  part  of  the  Bland- 
Allison  Act  providing  for  the  purchase  of  silver  bullion  was 
repealed,  and  in  its  place  the  Sherman  Act  was 
a\6  i r6^11  Passed,  which  provided  that  the  Government 
should  purchase  each  month  at  the  market 
price  four  and  a  half  million  ounces  of  such  bullion.  In 
payment  for  the  silver  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  to 
give  out  Treasury  notes  that  were  to  be  full  legal  tender. 
The  silver  so  bought  was  not  to  be  coined  into  money  ex- 
cept as  it  might  be  needed  to  redeem  notes  presented  for 
redemption.*  By  this  measure,  therefore,  the  Government 
practically  ceased  to  coin  silver  dollars,  but  became  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  constantly  increasing  quantity  of  the  metal. 

During  this  administration  there  were  a  number  of  seri- 
ous difficulties  with  foreign  powers.  In  1891  a  mob  in 
New  Orleans  broke  into  a  jail  and  killed  several  Italian 
prisoners  confined  there.     The  provocation  to  such  conduct 

*  During  the  first  year  two  million  ounces  were  to  be  coined  each 
month. 


518  HISTORY  OP  THE   AMERICAN  NATION. 

was  great,  inasmuch  as  it  seems  quite  clear  that  these  men 

belonged  to  a  band  of  assassins  who  had  for  some  time  been 

plying  their  trade  of  murder  and  pillage,  and 

ltraTyble  Wlth       had  murdered  the  chief  of  Police  of  the  c%- 
The  courts  had  failed  to  convict  the  prisoners, 

because,  as  it  was  generally  believed,  the  juries  had  been 
bribed  or  browbeaten.  The  Italian  Government  demanded 
the  arrest  and  punishment  of  the  lynchers  and  withdrew 
her  minister  from  this  country.  Finally  our  Government 
brought  back  friendly  relations  by  consenting  to  give,  as  an 
indication  of  good  will,  a  certain  sum  as  compensation  to  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  dead  Italians. 

Shortly  after  this  there  was  trouble  with  Chili.     A  civil 
war  was  waging  there  between  the  President,  who  endeav- 
ored to  establish  himself  as  a  permanent  ruler, 

SmMBL       and  the  Congress-    Up011  the  defeat  of  the 
presidential    party    the    American    minister 

opened  up  his  official  residence  as  a  place  of  security  to  the 
refugees.  This  he  had  a  right  to  do,  and  like  action  was 
taken  by  other  resident  ministers  ;  but  the  victorious  peo- 
ple felt,  perhaps  justly,  that  our  representative  had  shown 
decided  partisanship  and  had  endeavored  too  zealously  to 
assist  their  foes.  A  party  of  seamen  from  an  American 
man-of-war  was  attacked  by  a  mob  in  the  streets  of  Valpa- 
raiso and  two  of  them  were  killed.  The  United  States  de- 
manded an  apology  for  the  outrage,  and  a  sharp  correspond- 
ence followed.  President  Harrison  sent  in  a  full  statement 
of  the  trouble  to  Congress,  and  for  a  time  it  appeared  as  if 
there  might  possibly  be  a  war  ;  but  Chili  after  a  time  sent 
"  conciliatory  and  friendly  "  statements  of  regret,  and  the 
war  cloud  blew  over. 

During  these  years  there  was  much  discussion  concern- 
ing improved  methods  of  conducting  elections.  It  was 
customary  for  the  political  committees  of  the  contesting 
parties  in  the  various  States  or  in  the  minor  civil  divisions 
of  the  States  to  furnish  the  ballots  used  at  the  election, 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  HARRISON— 1889-1893.         519 

and  no  means  was  offered  whereby  a  voter  might  prepare 
and  cast  his  ballot  in  secret.      A  number  of  States  now 
passed  measures  that  were  similar  to  or  partly 
in  imitation  of  the  Australian  laws  on  the  sub- 
ject.    These  acts  provide  generally  for  the  erection  of  small 
booths,  into  which  the  voter  can  go  to  prepare  his  ballot, 
and  for  the  furnishing  of  tickets  at  public  expense.     The 
candidates  of  all  parties  are  placed  on  the  same  piece  of 
paper,  and  but  one  ticket  is  given  to  each  elector.     In  this 
way  the  opportunities  for  bribery  and  fraud  are  lessened, 
since  those  who  desire  to  use  corrupt  methods  hesitate  to 
purchase  a  man's  vote  when,  because  of  the  secrecy  in  which 
the  ballot  is  prepared  and  cast,  they  can  not  be  sure  that 
the  person  who  has  been  bribed  has  fulfilled  his  agreement. 
For  the  election  of  1892  the  Republicans  renominated 
Harrison,  making  Whitelaw  Reid,  of  New  York,  the  candi- 
date for  Vice-President.    The  Democrats  for  the 
of  1892! 10n        third  time  nominated  Cleveland,  and  for  the  vice- 
presidency  selected  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  of  Illi- 
nois.   Thus  the  contest  was  between  old  rivals,  and  the  issues 
of  the  campaign  were  not  essentially  different  from  those  of 
four  years  before.    The  Republicans  reaffirmed  the  doctrine 
of  protection,  and  asserted  that  reciprocity  was 
Satfarm"1         a  success  an(l  would  "eventually  give  us  the 
control  of  the  trade  of  the  world " ;  they  de- 
clared that  the  people  favored  bimetallism,*  and  the  party 
desired  "  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  standard  money." 
The  Democrats  denounced  "  Republican  protection  as  a 
fraud,  a  robbery  of  the  great  majority  of  the  American  peo- 
ple for  the  benefit  of  the  few."     They  declared  that  the 

*  Bimetallism  means  the  use  of  two  metals  as  standard  money  and 
as  full  legal  tender,  the  purpose  being  to  determine  the  coinage  value 
in  such  a  way  that  both  will  circulate  on  a  parity.  Monometallists 
claim  that  only  one  metal  can  be  a  standard,  and  that  the  metals  can 
not  be  so  coined  that  the  market  value  of  a  gold  dollar  and  a  silver 
dollar  will  remain  the  same. 
34 


520  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Sherman  Act  was  "  a  cowardly  makeshift  fraught  with  pos- 
sibilities of  danger,"  but,  like  the  Eepublicans,  favored  "  the 

use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  the  standard 
Democratic         money  of  the  country."    A  newly  formed  party, 

called  the  People's,  or  Populist,  party,  nomi- 
nated James  B.  Weaver,  of  Iowa,  and  James  G.  Field,  of 
Virginia.  Their  platform  demanded  the  free  and  unlimited 
coinage  of  silver  and  gold,  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1,  a  gradu- 
ated income  tax,*  and  the  public  ownership  of  telegraphs 

and  railroads;  it  declared  that  the  two  old 
Populist  parties  were  simply  struggling  for  power  and 

plunder,  and  that  they  had  agreed  together 
"  to  drown  the  outcries  of  a  plundered  people  with  the  up- 
roar of  a  sham  battle  over  the  tariff."  The  Prohibitionists 
and  the  Socialistic-Labor  party  also  made  nominations. 

Cleveland  was  elected,  receiving  277  out  of  a  total  of 
444  electoral  votes.     The  Democrats  obtained  control  of 

both  houses  of  Congress,  and  so  had  the  Gov- 
Eesultofthe       ernment  completely  in  their  hands.     The  re- 

suit  of  the  election  showed  that  the  People's 
party  had  considerable  strength.  Weaver  received  22  elec- 
toral votes,  and  a  popular  vote  of  over  1,100,000. 

Reference. 
Moore,  American  Congress,  pp.  488-499. 


THE  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GROVER  CLEVELAND 
—1893-1897. 

By  a  revolution  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  in  January, 
1893,  a  new  and  interesting  problem  was  introduced  into 
the  foreign  affairs  of  the  United  States.     The  Queen,  Liliu- 

*  That  is,  a  tax  on  incomes  so  arranged  that  the  greater  a  man's  in- 
come the  greater  the  tax  in  proportion  to  the  income.  For  example,  a 
man  with  an  income  of  $4,000  might  have  to  pay  $40,  while  a  man 
with  $8,000  income  might  have  to  pay  $120. 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLEVELAND— 1893-1897.   521 

okalani,  desiring  to  increase  her  power,  contemplated  the 
promulgation  of  a  new  constitution.  The  more  intelligent 
residents  of  the  islands,  men  who  were  Ameri- 
Jevoiut^niian  can  ky  Dirtn  or  of  Anglo-Saxon  parentage,  desir- 
ous of  being  rid  of  a  ruler  whom  they  considered 
incompetent  and  corrupt,  deposed  the  queen  and  established 
a  government  republican  in  form.  During  the  progress  of 
the  revolution  troops  were  landed  from  an  American  cruiser, 
the  alleged  purpose  being  the  protection  of  American  citi- 
zens and  property.  Immediately  after  the  establishment  of 
the  new  government  commissioners  were  sent  to  the  United 
States  to  propose  annexation.  A  treaty  was  agreed  upon 
between  the  two  governments  and  was  sent  to  the  Senate 
for  ratification.  Before  the  Senate  had  passed  upon  the 
treaty  President  Harrison's  administration  came  to  an  end. 
Meanwhile  the  American  minister  at  Honolulu  had,  at  the 
invitation  of  the  new  government,  established  a  protectorate 
over  the  islands  in  the  name  of  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  President  Cleveland's  administra- 
tion was  to  withdraw  the  treaty  from  the  Senate.  He  then 
ni     .    ,,  sent  a  special  commissioner  to  the  islands  to 

Cleveland's  * 

Hawaiian  make  an  investigation  and  to  report  upon  the 

policy.  facts  regarding  the  condition  of  Hawaii  and 

the  cause  of  the  revolution.  The  commissioner,  upon  ar- 
rival, announced  that  the  protectorate  was  at  an  end  and 
ordered  the  American  flag  hauled  down.  iVfter  an  investi- 
gation, which  the  friends  of  annexation  declared  was  unfair 
and  partial,  he  reported  to  his  Government  that  the  success 
of  the  revolution  was  due  to  the  encouragement  of  the 
United  States  minister  and  to  the  landing  of  the  United 
States  troops.  After  receiving  this  report  President  Cleve- 
land and  his  Secretary  of  State,  Walter  Q.  Gresham,  en- 
deavored to  right  the  wrong  which  they  believed  had  been 
committed.  Expressions  of  regret  were  sent  to  the  Queen, 
and  she  was  asked  to  "  rely  on  the  justice  of  this  Govern- 
ment to  undo  the  flagrant  wrong."     This  effort  on  the  part 


522  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

of  our  Government  was  fruitless.  In  December  the  Presi- 
dent sent  a  message  to  Congress  reviewing  the  matter  and 
declaring  that  he  would  be  glad  "to  co-operate  in  any 
legislative  plan  "  which  might  solve  the  problem  consist- 
ently "with  American  honor,  integrity,  and  morality." 
Nothing  was  done  by  Congress. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1893  there  were  various  evi- 
dences of  a  severe  commercial  panic.     For  some  time  there 

had  been  a  great  decline  in  trade,  and  men  who 
^8pga3mc  wished  to  borrow  money  for  business  purposes 

found  it  difficult  to  do  so  even  on  the  best  of 
security.  The  foreign  capitalists  that  held  bonds  or  stocks 
in  American  enterprises  sought  repeatedly  to  dispose  of 
them,  in  consequence  of  which  there  was  great  depression 
in  all  industry.  An  immense  amount  of  gold  left  the  coun- 
try ;  the  year  ending  June  30th  over  one  hundred  and  eight 
million  dollars  was  exported.  As  a  result  of  the  depression 
and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  money,  and  because  the  basis 
of  all  credit — namely,  men's  confidence  in  the  ability  of 
others  to  pay — was  rudely  shaken,  failures  of  mercantile 
houses  occurred  in  great  numbers.  There  were  doubtless 
many  causes  for  this  trouble,  among  which  was  the  fact 
that  for  some  time  previously  there  had  been  in  many 
places  an  unwholesome  excitement  and  zeal  in  business 
ventures,  resulting  in  what  is  commonly  known  as  over- 
production. Towns  of  the  Western  and  Central  States 
were  "  boomed  "  in  a  way  that  recalls  to  mind  the  infatua- 
tion of  1835-'36. 

Some  persons  believed  that  the  panic  came  because  busi- 
ness men  in  this  country  and  foreigners  owning  American 

securities  feared  that  the  United  States  would 
Sherman  Act         d     t      gilver  standard,  so  that  debts  would  be 

repealed,  1893,  , r ,  *  . 

paid  in  a  dollar  the  bullion  value  of  which  was 
less  than  three  fourths  the  value  of  a  gold  dollar,  by  which 
at  that  time  all  debts  and  commodities  were  measured.  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  called  an  extra  session  of  Congress  for  Au- 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLEVELAND— 1893-1897.    523 

gust,  declaring  in  his  proclamation  that "  the  present  perilous 
condition  of  the  country  "  was  largely  the  result  of  unwise 
financial  legislation.  When  Congress  met,  the  President 
sent  in  a  message  recommending  the  repeal  of  those  pro- 
visions of  the  Sherman  Act  which  authorized  the  Govern- 
ment to  purchase  silver.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was 
quickly  passed  by  the  House,  but  the  Senate  did  not  pass 
the  measure  till  the  end  of  October.  This  action  seems  to 
have  had  little  effect  in  restoring  confidence  or  bringing 
back  better  times.  The  depression  in  indus- 
Depression         ^      continued  to  exist.  '  Before  winter  set  in  it 

continues.  J  .   .  .  , 

was  estimated  that  eighty  thousand  people  in 
New  York,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  people  in 
Chicago,  and  sixty  thousand  people  in  Philadelphia  were  out 
of  employment,  and  many  of  them  were  suffering  from  want. 
During  this  summer  of  panic  and  business  depression  a 
world's  fair  was  held  at  Chicago  to  celebrate  the  four  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
The  World's       ica>*     0f  all  th     international  exhibitions  as 

Fair. 

yet  attempted  this  was  by  far  the  greatest. 
The  chief  buildings,  designed  by  competent  architects,  were 
beautiful  examples  of  chaste  and  noble  architecture,  which 
must  have  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  all 
who  beheld  them.  The  grounds  upon  the  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan  were  charming  and  attractive.  The  nations  of 
the  world  vied  with  one  another  in  sending  costly  and 
artistic  exhibits.  The  attendance  was  very  large,  especially 
"during  the  last  two  months  of  the  Exposition.  That  such 
an  exhibition,  with  its  magnificent  buildings  and  its  great 
display  of  wealth  and  culture,  could  be  held  in  a  city  where 
but  seventy  years  before  only  a  little  army  post  and  a  strag- 
gling frontier  village  existed,  was  a  striking  proof  of  the 
astonishing  development  of  the  great  West  and  of  American 
thrift  and  progress. 

*  The  celebration  would  naturally  have  occurred  in  1892,  but  it  was 
found  impossible  to  make  the  necessary  preparations. 


524  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

For  a  number  of  years  England  and  the  United  States 
had  been  at  variance  over  the  subject  of  the  seal  fisheries 

in  Bering  Sea.  To  protect  the  seals  from  total 
The  seal  extinction    some    regulations  and   restrictions 

were  imperatively  necessary.  To  settle  the 
dispute  in  a  friendly  and  sensible  way,  and  also  to  deter- 
mine some  method  of  preserving  the  seals  from  complete 
destruction,  it  was  agreed  that  the  whole  matter  should  be 
referred  to  a  court  of  arbitration.     The  court  met  in  Paris 

in  the  spring  of  1893.  It  was  composed  of  two 
The  Pans  members  from  the  United  States  and  two  from 

tribunal, 

Great  Britain,  one  from  France,  one  from  Italy, 
and  one  from  Sweden  and  Norway.  Our  Government  made 
two  main  contentions  :  (1)  That  the  United  States  had  juris- 
diction and  dominion  in  the  Bering.  Sea  ;  (2)  that  the  seals 
making  their  homes  and  rearing  their  young  on  the  islands 
of  this  sea  were  our  property,  even  though  they  might  tem- 
porarily migrate  far  out  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  court 
gave  a  decision  adverse  to  the  United  States,  but  issued 
regulations  for  the  protection  and  reasonable  preservation 
of  the  seals — regulations  which,  it  was  hoped,  would  be  suf- 
ficient for  the  purpose. 

The  year  1894  was  marked  by  great  and  disastrous 
strikes,  during  the  progress  of  which  much  property  was 

destroyed  and  the  traffic  and  commerce  of  a 
rktL*i8ft4        large  portion  of  the  country  thrown  into  serious 

confusion.  The  worst  disturbances  occurred  at 
Chicago.  The  difficulty  had  its  beginning  in  a  movement 
by  the  employees  in  the  Pullman  factories  and  car  shops 
for  higher  wages  than  the  company  said  it  could  give. 
After  the  strike  had  lasted ,  some  weeks,  it  was  extended, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Railway  Union,  a  society  of  rail- 
way workmen,  to  the  railways  that  on  demand  had  refused 
to  cease  the  running  of  Pullman  cars.  President  Cleveland 
sent  Federal  troops  to  Chicago  to  protect  United  States 
property,  secure  peaceful  transmission  of  the  mails,  and 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLEVELAND— 1893-1897.    525 

prevent  interference  with  interstate  commerce.     The  dis- 
order was  finally  quelled. 

The  President  was  anxious   that,  in  conformity   with 

Democratic   pledges,   his   party,   now   in   control   of   both 

houses  of  Congress,  should  pass  a  new  tariff 

The  Wilson  Bill.  ,  -f         '        .  r,  .-  _.    . 

measure  to  take  the  place  of  the  McKmley 
Bill.  An  act  known  as  the  Wilson  Bill,  lowering  the  duty 
on  many  articles,  was  enacted.  It  was  expected  that  the 
revenue  from  duties  on  imports  would  be  materially  cut 
down  by  this  act,  and  to  provide  the  requisite  revenue  a 

tax  on  incomes  of  over  four  thousand  dollars 
The  income        ^  provided  for.    The  constitutionality  of  this 

portion  of  the  law  was  later  called  in  question 
before  the  Supreme  Court.  By  a  vote  of  five  to  four  the 
court  held  that  the  income  tax  was,  taken  as  a  whole,  a 
direct  tax,  and  it  was  declared  inoperative  and  void  because 
not  apportioned  among  the  States  as  the  Constitution 
directs.* 

President  Cleveland's  second  administration  was  not  free 
from  embarrassing  and  serious  problems  in  the  conduct  of 

foreign  affairs.     A  rebellion   in   Cuba  against 

fompifcations.  the  Power  of  sPain  found  many  sympathizers 
in  America,  so  that  it  became  necessary  for  the 
President  to  issue  a  proclamation  warning  all  citizens 
against  the  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws.  At  the  end  of 
1895  more  disquieting  events  occurred.  Venezuela  and 
Great  Britain  had  long  been  contending  concerning  the 
proper  boundary  between  the  former  state  and  British 
Guiana.  The  United  States  desired  to  bring  about  a  set- 
tlement of  the  dispute  by  arbitration.  Great  Britain  re- 
fused to  submit  the  matter  to  arbitration,  and 

SuhTee.neZUelan  questioned  tlie  right  of  the  United  States  to 
interfere.     Mr.  Olney,  the  Secretary  of  State 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Gresham,  insisted  that  this  Govern- 
ment had  a  right  to  interpose,  and  that  such  interposition 

*  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  ii,  §  3. 


526  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATlOtf. 

was  in  line  with  the  principle  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  and 
in  accordance  with  traditional  American  policy.  December 
17th  the  President  sent  a  message  to  Congress,  with  the  cor- 
respondence that  had  passed  between  the  governments. 
The  message  declared  that  inasmuch  as  Great  Britain  re- 
fused to  submit  to  impartial  arbitration,  in  the  absence  of 
other  means  of  discovering  the  true  lines  in  the  disputed 
territory  the  United  States  should  investigate  the  matter  and 
come  to  its  own  decision.  He  advised,  therefore,  an  appro- 
priation for  a  commission  to  make  such  investigation  and  to 
report  its  findings.  "When  such  report  is  made  and  ac- 
cepted," the  President  declared,  "  it  will,  in  my  opinion,  be 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  resist  by  every  means  in 
its  power,  as  a  willful  aggression  upon  its  rights  and  inter- 
ests, the  appropriation  by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands  or  the 
exercise  of  governmental  jurisdiction  over  any  territory, 
which  after  investigation  we  have  determined  of  right  be- 
long to  Venezuela."  Congress  immediately  appropriated 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  a  commission  (December 
18-80,  1895),  and  the  President  appointed  its  members. 
The  country  was  startled  by  these  proceedings,  for  no  one 
had  been  aware  that  our  relations  with  Great  Britain  were 
at  all  critical.  There  was  considerable  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  people  as  to  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Olney's  dispatches 
and  the  President's  message,  and  there  was  everywhere  great 
interest  and  considerable,  but  not  alarming,  excitement. 

While  the  commission  was  engaged  in  investigating  the 
claims  of  England  and  Venezuela,  the  English  and  Ameri- 
can   governments    continued    to   discuss    the 

Arbitration  . .         .       , .         .      ,  n  — , 

agreed  upon.  question  in  dispute  by  correspondence.  Eng- 
land finally  consented  to  leave  the  matter  to 
an  international  tribunal,  two  members  of  which  should  be 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  To  this 
Venezuela  agreed.  Thus  war  was  avoided,  and  the  diffi- 
culty determined  in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of  civiliza- 
tion and  not  the  instincts  and  passions  of  barbarism.     The 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLEVELAND—1893-1897.   527 


President  and  the  English  ministry  also  agreed  upon  a  treaty 
establishing  a  general  court  of  arbitration,  but  this  treaty 
the  Senate  rejected. 

After  the  panic  of  1893  the  General  Government  found 
it  difficult  to  keep  a  sufficient  amount  of  gold  in  the  Treas- 
ury to  assure   the  redemption  of  notes  and 
United  States  securities  in  that  metal.     The 
President  and  his  Cabinet  believed  that,  if  the  gold  should 
get  so  low  that  silver  was  used  for  such  purposes,  there 


would  at  once  be  great  financial  distress,  and  that  our  credit 
at  home  and  abroad  would  be  ruined.  To  secure  gold  the 
Government  resorted  to  the  sale  of  bonds,  and  in  this  way 
increased  the  national  debt  by  over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
million  dollars.  This  sale  of  bonds  was  very  much  con- 
demned by  many  persons  and  as  strongly  defended  by 
others. 

The  Eepublican  party  nominated  William  McKinley,  of 
Ohio,  and  Garret  A.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey.  They  declared 
in  their  platform  :  "  We  are  opposed  to  the  free  coinage  of 
silver  except  by  international  agreement  with  the  leading 
commercial  nations  of  the  world,  which  we  pledge  ourselves 


528  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

to  promote,  ana  until  such  agreement  can  be  obtained  the 
existing  gold  standard  must  be  observed."    The  Democratic 

party  nominated  William  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska, 
°Sm,ei896.  and  Arthur  Sewall,  of  Maine.     The  platform 

demanded  "  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
both  gold  and  silver  at  the  present  legal  ratio  of  sixteen 
to  one  " ;  it  also  declared  its  opposition  "  to  the  issuing  of 
interest-bearing  bonds  in  time  of  peace." 

The  People's  party  also  chose  Mr.  Bryan  as  their  candi- 
date for  the  presidency,  but  nominated  Thomas  E.  Watson, 
of  Georgia,  for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Bryan  was  also  nomi- 
nated by  a  party  calling  itself  the  Silver  party.  A  large 
number  of  Democrats  were  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  platform  adopted  by  their  party,  and  held  another  con- 
vention, which  nominated  John  M.  Palmer,  of  Illinois, 
and  Simon  B.  Buckner,  of  Kentucky,  and  declared  in  favor 
of  the  gold  standard. 

The  campaign  was  full  of  intense  interest.  No  other 
election  since  the  civil  war  has  stirred  the  nation  so  deeply. 

Although  other  issues  were  discussed  some- 
Eesults  of  what,  the  silver  question  was  the  chief  subiect 

the  election.  . 

of  dispute.  Spite  of  the  excitement,  it  was  a 
campaign  of  discussion  and  argument,  not  of  abuse.  The 
Eepublicans  were  successful.  Mr.  McKinley  received  two 
hundred  and  seventy-one  electoral  votes  and  Mr.  Bryan  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  WILLIAM   McKIN  LEY— 1897- 

William  McKinley  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1843.  Enlisting 
as  a  private  soldier  at  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  he 
served  with  distinction  throughout  the  four  years,  leaving 
the  army  as  major.  From  1877  to  1891  he  was  a  representa- 
tive in  Congress  from  Ohio,  and  became  one  of  the  best 
known  men  in  the  Republican  party  and  one  of  the  most 
energetic  and  effective  men  in  the  House,  distinguishing 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  McKlNLEY— 1897- 


529 


The  Dingley 
tariff. 


himself  especially  by  his  advocacy  of  the  tariff.  In  1891  he 
was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  held  the  office  for  two 
terms. 

Two  days  after  his  inauguration  the  President  sum- 
moned Congress  to  meet  in  extra  session.  In  his  first  mes- 
sage he  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  for 
some  years  past  the  expenditures  of  the  Govern- 
ment had  exceeded  the  receipts,  and  said  that 
there  was  an  evident  necessity  for  the  prompt  passage  of  a 
tariff  bill  which  would  provide  ample  revenue.  Congress 
soon  passed  an  act  known  as 
the  Dingley  tariff  bill,  which 
very  materially  increased  the 
duties. 

The  insurrection  in  Cuba, 
which   had   caused  trouble  in 
the  United  States 
u  a"  and  anxiety  to  the 

previous  Administration,  was 
still  in  progress,  and  was  daily 
producing  more  and  more  rest- 
lessness and  uneasiness  among 
the  people  of  America.  Many 
persons  felt,  naturally,  a  sym- 
pathy with  a  people  who  were 
fighting  for  their  independence 
from  a  nation  whose  colonial 
policy  had  consisted,  from  the  beginning,  in  extorting  as 
much  as  possible  from  the  colony  for  the  sake  of  the  mother 
country,  with  little  regard  for  the  needs  or  the  rights  of  the 
colonists.  Moreover,  the  people  of  the  United  States  were 
shocked  by  the  methods  used  in  the  suppression  of  the  re- 
bellion, which  were  cruel  in  the  extreme,  entailing  untold 
misery  not  so  much  upon  the  soldiers  in  arms  as  on  the 
women,  children,  and  other  non-combatants.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  whole  island  was  laid  waste,  its  commerce  de- 


£tr^/}*^>- 


530  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

stroyed,  while  tens  of  thousands  of  its  citizens  died  of  want 
and  starvation.  American  residents  in  Cuba  were  at  times 
ill  treated,  and  our  Government  forced  to  call  upon  Spain 
for  indemnity.  We  were  obliged  to  police  our  shores  to 
prevent  "  filibustering  expeditions  "  carrying  arms,  ammuni- 
tion, and  re-enforcements  to  the  rebels.  American  com- 
merce with  the  island  was  in  large  measure  broken  up,  and, 
though  we  had  legally  no  right  to  complain  of  this  inevita- 
ble result  of  the  rebellion,  the  patience  of  our  people  was  so 
sorely  tried  that  it  became  evident  that  before  long  our  Gov- 
ernment would  be  compelled  by  Spain's  own  cruelty  to  de- 
mand a  cessation  of  hostilities.  In  Cleveland's  administra- 
tion an  effort  had  been  made  to  induce  Spain  to  grant  Cuba 
self-government,  if  not  independence ;  but  Spain  would  have 
none  of  it,  and  even  redoubled  her  energies  to  crush  the 
rebellion,  continuing  with  greater  zeal  upon  her  appalling 
work  of  desolation  and  destruction.  Renewed  overtures 
from  our  Government,  after  Mr.  McKinley  became  Presi- 
dent, were  met  with  assurances  that  local  self-government 
would  be  granted  to  Cuba,  but  it  was  now  too  late.  The 
insurgents  were  not  ready  to  accept  anything  less  than  inde- 
pendence, and  the  war  continued. 

The  situation,  already  full  of  trouble,  was  aggravated 
by  an  event  which   stirred   the   American  people  as   few 

events  in  our  history  have  done.  The  battle 
The  Maine  gj^p  Maine,  while  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Havana, 

was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  and  sunk,  carry- 
ing down  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  sailors  and  officers. 
After  a  careful  examination,  a  court  of  naval  officers  reached 

the  conclusion  that  the  ship  was  "  destroyed  by 
trqr11117  15'       ^he  explosion  of  a  submarine  mine,  which  caused 

the  explosion  of  two  or  more  of  her  forward 
magazines."  After  the  rendering  of  the  report  it  was  ap- 
parent that  war  was  imminent.  One  is  loath  to  believe  that 
the  Spanish  Government  was  itself  guilty  of  such  an  atro- 
cious outrage ;   but  some  of  the  Spanish  officers  perhaps 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   McKINLEY— 1897- 


531 


were,  and  if  they  were  not,  the  disaster  was  an  impressive 
proof  of  a  state  of  things  in  Cuba  that  was  intolerable.* 


The  Maine. 

Some  further  negotiations  were  carried  on  between  the 
two   governments,  and  though   Spain   now   made   conces- 
sions and  promises,  they  produced  little  impres- 
eg0  la  l  sion  upon  the  United  States,  which  was  weary 

of  making  remonstrances  and  peaceful  representations  and 
of  waiting  for  the  fulfillment  of  promises.  The  Presi- 
dent sent  a  message  to  Congress,  April  11th,  giving  a 
history  of  the  Cuban  difficulty  for  the  preced- 
ing three  years,  and  asking  Congress  to  em- 
power him  "  to  take  measures  to  secure  a  full 
and  final  termination  of  hostilities  between  the  Government 
of  Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  secure  in  the 
island  the  establishment  of  a  stable  government  capable  of 
maintaining  order  and  observing  its  international  obliga- 
tions, insuring  peace  and  tranquillity  and  the  security  of  its 
citizens,  as  well  as  our  own,  and  to  use  the  military  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  as  may  be  necessary  for 
these  purposes." 


President's 


*  See  President  McKinley's  message,  April  11,  1898. 


532  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

On  the  19th,  Congress  passed  a  series  of  resolutions  de- 
claring that  the  people  of  Cuba  "  are  and  of  right  ought  to 
be  free  and  independent,"  demanding  that 
Mtione88i0nal  Spain  withdraw  her  troops  and  relinquish  her 
authority,  empowering  the  President  to  use 
the  army  and  navy  and  to  call  forth  the  militia  to  enforce 
the  resolutions,  and  disclaiming  any  disposition  or  inten- 
tion to  annex  or  exercise  control  over  the  island. 

Prompt  steps  were  taken  to  carry  these  resolutions  into 
effect.      An  ultimatum   was   drawn    up   announcing  that 


V"*T*iw"i^ "»AvV  J^"^         VIRGIN  IDS. 
Jiava,,,,,,,                f^.^     ^ 

•     J§3"'     CULEBRA  1. 

SW      VIEQUES  OR  CRAB  1. 
YJUu-vz 
i:^^r^^~      C.J:  Mala  Fascua 

,  *  A  N  T  '  ° 

Agua<lill;rt?'        «'■;.'    A  Maihill  /         ( 
DASECHEO  l.@            ^X^   ^     .      /      y.   1    Mar 1       Q         I 

Mayagupill     r^"~      TV    ITj°>  )    ■  '  .      }'Sk3fr> 

MONITA  1.                                                     &vH-"'~    '              -       |u.'Uici                _,,.. 
^.MONAI.                  Cabo  R"je.r r   -•...,'                   <':   ,   •          Coamo* 
San  German  -  Y       ,,             •'  tlaTas/.          =    .    •  • 

-T          y^                                CAJA  DE  MUERTOS  1. 

*    *    ^     JT 

s    s    A 

PUERTO  RICO 

SCALE  OF  MILES 

0          10         20         30         40 

Spain  must  before  noon  of  the  23d  of  April  give  a  satisfac- 
tory answer  to  our  demands  or  the  President  would  use 

force  to  compel  acquiescence.  The  Spanish 
April  1898.        minister  at  Washington  immediately  demanded 

his  passports,  and  the  American  minister  at 
Madrid  was  given  his  before  he  could  present  the  ulti- 
matum. A  fleet  was  at  once  sent  from  Key  West  to 
blockade  Havana,  and  war  was  thus  begun.  A  few  days 
later  Congress  formally  declared  that  war  was  in  progress. 
The  events  of  the  war  do  not  need  now  a  recital  in  detail. 
The  victory  of  Commodore  Dewey  over  the  Spanish  fleet 


ADMINISTRATION  OP  McKlNLEY— 1897- 


533 


Dashi  Channel 

NORTH  I./ 
BATAN  18.  J*« 

Balintang  Channel 

^B^UYAN 


in  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  capture  of  Santiago  by  the 
American  army,  and  the  destruction  of  Admiral  Cervera's 
ships  by  the  American  fleet  are  very  recent  events  as  this 
history  closes — events  which  seem  fraught  with  momentous 
consequences,  far  greater,  perhaps,  than  any  one  could  have 
foreseen  when  the  war  was  begun. 

On  the  12th  of  August  preliminary  terms  of  peace  were 
agreed  upon  at  Washington,  the  French  minister  acting  in 
behalf  of  Spain.  By  the  terms  of  this  arrange- 
Aurwt  1898  men^  Spain  promised  to  surrender  all  claim  to 
Cuba,  and  to  cede  to  the  United  States  Puerto 
Rico  and  all  other  Spanish  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  as 
well  as  an  island  in  the  Ladrones.  It  was  also  agreed  that 
the  United  States 
should  hold  the 
city  and  harbor  of 
Manila  pending 
the  conclusion  of 
a  treaty  which 
should  determine 
the  final  disposi- 
tion of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  Com- 
missioners appoint- 
ed by  both  nations 
met  at  Paris  and 
concluded  a  defin- 
itive treaty,  in 
which  Spain  gave 
assent  to  all  the 
express  stipula- 
tions and  promises 
of  the  prelimina- 
ry agreement,  and 
also  gave  up  to  the 
United   States   all 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  McKINLEY-1897-        -     535 

sovereignty  over  the  Philippine  Islands.     February  6,  1899, 
the  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  American  Senate.* 

It  seems  strange  indeed  that  at  the  end  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  United  States  and  Spain  should  be  at  war 
— a  war  growing  out  of  Spain's  colonial  policy, 
English  and  caused  in  large  measure  by  the  method 

colonies.  0f  coionial  administration  that  marked  the  be- 

ginnings and  has  sullied  the  course  of  her  history  in  the  New 
World.  The  defeat  of  the  Spanish  armada,  says  a  recent 
writer,  with  truth,  was  the  opening  event  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States.  The  beginning  of  English  colonization 
in  America  was  made  with  the  hope  that  it  would  check 
the  growth  of  Spain  and  undermine  her  strength.  Who 
could  have  foreseen  the  long  rivalry  with  Spain  and  the 
ultimate  success  of  English  and  American  institutions? 
Three  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  ago  an  unknown 
Englishman,  supposed,  however,  to  be  the  intrepid  Hum- 
phrey Gilbert,  implored  the  Queen  of  England 
to  give  him  authority  to  attack  the  Spanish 
shipping  and  the  colonial  establishments  of  the  West 
Indies.  "  I  will  do  it  if  you  allow  me,"  he  said ;  "  only  you 
must  resolve  and  not  delay — the  wings  of  man's  life  are 
plumed  with  the  feathers  of  death."  Time  has  proved  that 
great  national  movements  are  not  for  a  moment,  and  are 
not  dependent  on  the  resolutions  or  delays  of  a  queen  or  a 
passing  generation. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  the  annexation  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  was  finally  consummated.  A  joint  reso- 
lution was  passed  through  Congress  providing 
the  Hawaiian  f or  the  acquisition  of  the  islands  and  for  their 
Islands,  July,  temporary  government.  A  group  of  twelve 
islands,  with  an  area  of  6,677  square  miles  and 
a  population  of  about  100,000  persons,  one  half  of  them  na- 
tive islanders,  was  thus  made  American  territory. 

*  Twenty  million  dollars  was  given  Spain  for  the  Philippines, 
35 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
Conclusion. 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  noticed  chiefly  the 
facts  in  the  political  and  constitutional  history  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  political  events  constitute  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  activities  of  a  nation.  Laws  are  perhaps  the 
best  single  index  of  the  movement  of  society ;  but  the  per- 
son that  studies  history  from  the  laws  alone  gets  but  a  faint 
idea  of  a  nation's  progress.  The  people  develop  in  thou- 
sands of  ways,  and  the  changes  of  society  are  but  dimly 
seen  in  legislative  enactments  or  in  the  platforms  of  politi- 
cal parties. 

We  must  remember  that  in  the  hundred  years  and 
more  since  the  Constitution  was  adopted  the  nation  has 
grown  with  astonishing  rapidity ;  that  the  fun- 
Changes  of  a       damental  law  drawn  up  by  the  men  of  1787  for 

PfinijTlTV 

a  little  group  of  States  on  the  margin  of  a 
continent  is  now  the  law  of  forty-five  States  that  stretch 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  In  all  that  we  study  con- 
cerning the  history  of  the  country  we  must  remember  that 
the  nation  was  always  in  movement,  hourly  waxing  stronger, 
reaching  out  year  by  year  for  more  territory,  and  develop- 
ing its  industrial  life  and  strength.  We  must  remember 
that  since  1787  greater  changes  have  come  over  the  world, 
in  all  that  affects  the  industry  of  men,  than  up  to  that  time 
had  taken  place  since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  law  that  was  framed  by  the  fathers  in  the  Philadelphia 
Convention  was  framed  for  a  people  who  sowed  their  wheat, 
threshed  it,  and  shipped  it  to  market  by  the  same  tedious 
530 


CONCLUSION. 


537 


methods  and  with  the  same  crude  implements  that  the 
world  knew  in  the  time  of  Solon.  In  the  course  of  the  last 
hundred  years  new  machinery  has  been  invented,  and  with 
its  help  man  has  multiplied  his  power.  Steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  been  harnessed  to  do  his  bidding,  and  the  whole 
industrial  life  of  the  people  has  been  altered.  Society  has 
become  complex ;  new  and  serious  problems  have  arisen. 
Everywhere  there  has  been  movement  and  change,  and 
political  institutions  have  had  to  adapt  themselves  to  a 
people  that  were  constantly  expanding. 


Distribution  of  Population  in  1890. 


Extension  of 
population. 


In  1700  the  population  of  the  United  States  was  some- 
thing less  than  4,000,000,  including  slaves ;  in  1900  it  was 
over  75,500,000.  When  the  new  Government 
was  established  the  center  of  population  was 
thirty  miles  east  of  Baltimore  ;  it  is  now  almost 
as  far  west  as  Indianapolis.  This  is  one  of  the  astounding 
facts  of  history ;  and  we  may  remember  that,  if  America 
has  not  as  yet  produced  poets,  or  painters,  or  sculptors, 
or  musicians  of  the  first  rank,  the  people  have  subdued  a 


538 


HISTORY   OF   THE  AMERICAN   NATION. 


continent ;  and  they  have  taken  possession  of  it  not  as  a 
nomadic  horde,  but  have  covered  the  plains  and  hillsides 
with  cities  and  villages ;  they  have  taken  with  them,  in 
their  work  of  winning  the  wilderness,  the  courthouse,  the 
schoolhouse,  and  the  church. 

Until  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  the  population  of 

the  United  States  doubled  in  each  twenty-five  years.    Since 

that  time  the  increase  has  been  less  rapid,  and 

migra  ion,      ^^  ^e  number  on  the  census  rolls  of  1900  is 

two  and  a  half  times  that  reported  in  1860.     This  rapid 

increase  is  due  in  large  measure,  of  course,  to  the  immi- 


gration of  persons  who  have  come  to  America  to  better 
their  condition.  Xot  until  1820  was  there  any  exact  record 
kept  of  how  many  persons  were  coming  to  the  United 
States ;  the  number  was  at  first  very  small,  and  did  not 
reach  one  hundred  thousand  until  1842.  Shortly  before 
the  civil  war  over  four  hundred  thousand  came  in  a  single 
year.  In  1882  the  number  of  immigrants  was  over  three 
fourths  of  a  million.  Probably  at  the  present  time  not 
more  than  one  half  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  are 
descended  from  persons  that  lived  in  the  United  States  one 
hundred  years  ago.  When  we  stop  to  consider  this  fact  we 
wonder  that  the  nation  has  developed  symmetrically  and 
peaceably,  and  that  these  people  of  different  races,  with 


CONCLUSION.  539 

social  customs  and  ideas  differing  from  our  own,  ignorant 
of  our  political  and  social  system,  have  been  absorbed  into 
the  nation  and  been  so  speedily  transformed  into  American 
citizens  in  sympathy  with  American  ideals.  Doubtless 
this  ceaseless  immigration  has  had  its  dangers  and  still 
presents  its  difficulties ;  but  if  all  foreign  elements  can  be 
assimilated  into  our  life,  the  composite  nation  that  results 
is  not  likely  to  be  feeble  or  lacking  in  force,  but  an  ener- 
getic, delicately  constituted,  vigorous,  and  forcible  race. 

When  the  Constitution  was  adopted   the   people  were 
largely  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  the  cities  were  few  and 
small.     Philadelphia  had  only  forty-two  thou- 
Growth  of  san(j  inhabitants,  New  York  thirty-three  thou- 

sand. In  1800  there  were  only  six  cities  with 
over  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  urban  population 
was  less  than  four  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  1900  there 
were  five  hundred  and  forty-five  cities  of  this  size,  and  over 
thirty-three  per  cent  of  all  the  people  dwelt  in  them.  New 
York  is  now  the  second  city  of  the  world,  and  Chicago, 
which  in  1830  was  a  frontier  village,  contains  more  than  a 
million  and  a  half  of  people. 

The  United  States  is  no  longer  only  an  agricultural 

country,  as  it  was  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago ;   its 

industries   are   many  and  varied ;   it   has  be- 

ManufactureSi  »    ,-,       *•  £ 

come  one  of  the  largest  manufacturing  states 
of  the  world.  In  1900  the  capital  employed  in  manu- 
facturing amounted  to  almost  $10,000,000,000,  the  num- 
ber of  workmen  was  more  than  5,700,000,  and  the  total 
value  of  the  product  was  $13,000,000,000.  In  this  re- 
spect there  has  been  great  development  in  the  last  few 
decades.  Between  1890  and  1900  the  number  of  factories 
increased  forty-four  per  cent,  capital  fifty-one  per  cent, 
wages  twenty-three  per  cent.  The  output  of  steel  alone 
was  seven  hundred  and  fifty  times  as  great  in  1900  as 
in  1865.  At  the  close  of  the  civil  war  there  were  a  little 
over  thirty-five  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  the  United 


CONCLUSION.  541 

States.     In  1900  the  total  mileage  was  over  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  thousand. 

Nothing  brings  before  us  the  great  development  of  the 
country  in  the  last  few  years  more  clearly  and  strikingly 
than  the  growth  of  the  West.  At  the  end  of 
i*6  fTeSS  °f  ^e  Mexican  War,  the  country  west  of  Iowa  and 
Missouri  was  almost  unpeopled.  A  few  Mexi- 
cans were  living  within  the  limits  of  New  Mexico  and  Cali- 
fornia. The  Oregon  country  had  something  over  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  including  white  people  and  Indian 
half-breeds.  The  Mormons  had  just  moved  (1847)  into  the 
valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  were  beginning  their 
wonderful  work  of  transforming  the  bleak  Western  wilder- 
ness into  a  land  of  plenty.  Even  as  late  as  the  discussion 
over  the  Kansas-Nebraska  question,  the  Western  prairies 
were  thought  by  many  to  be  a  great  desert,  scarcely  fit 
for  the  comfortable  habitations  of  men.  The  first  settle- 
ment in  the  Dakotas,  Sioux  Falls,  was  not  made  till  1857. 
In  Wyoming,  it  is  true,  a  fur-trading  post  was  established 
as  early  as  1834,  but  there  was  no  need  of  organizing  a 
separate  Territorial  government  for  this  region  until  1868. 
By  the  census  of  1900  the  Western  States  and  Territories, 
from  the  line  of  Missouri  and  Iowa  to  the  Pacific,  con- 
tained 11,187,901  people.  The  great  American  Desert  has 
disappeared  from  the  map.  The  desert  has  given  place  to 
vast  fields  of  corn  and  wheat,  and  the  rocky  fastnesses  of 
the  mountain  ranges  are  yielding  marvelous  mineral  treas- 
ures. Colorado  alone  produced  $29,000,000  worth  of  gold 
and  $12,700,018  worth  of  silver  in  1900 ;  and  the  mineral 
production  of  Utah  in  one  year  is  over  $15,000,000.  The 
two  Dakotas  raise  $50,000,000  worth  of  staple  agricul- 
tural products  in  a  single  season.  These  are  certainly 
very  startling  figures,  when  one  considers  that,  within  the 
memory  of  men  still  living,  these  Western  plains  and  moun- 
tain valleys  were  unpeopled  and  unknown.  But  one  would 
have  but  a  faint  idea  of  this  remarkable  progress  if  he 


542  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

stopped  with  a  study  of  industries  and  population.  The 
schools,  the  universities,  the  libraries,  the  churches  are  wit- 
nesses to  the  fact  that  the  graces  and  refinements  of  civiliza- 
tion have  not  been  neglected.  As  the  Puritans  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  provided  for  town  schools  and  a  college  "  while 
the  tree  stumps  were  as  yet  scarcely  weather-browned  in 
their  earliest  harvest  fields,"  so  in  the  new  regions  of  the 
West  the  school  and  the  university  have  been  the  foremost 
care  of  the  people. 

The  words  of  Webster  can  not  be  too  often  repeated : 
"  On  the  diffusion  of  education  among  the  people  rest  the 
preservation  and  perpetuation  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions." In  1870-1871  there  were  about  seven 
and  a  half  million  pupils  enrolled  in  our  common  schools ; 
in  1899-1900  there  were  over  twice  that  number.*  More- 
over, the  endowments  of  colleges  and  universities  have  been 
greatly  increased ;  many  millions  have  been  given  by  the 
States  and  by  private  individuals  for  the  advancement  of 
higher  education ;  new  universities  have  been  founded,  and 
the  number  of  college  students  has  multiplied.  Nowhere 
else  in  the  world  is  there  such  general  interest  in  education. 

While  discussing  the  events  of  Jackson's  administration 

we  stopped  to  consider  the  literature  of  the  time,  and  to 

notice  that  a  number  of  great  writers  had  ap- 
Literature,  ,      -,  -.  .  .  ,., 

peared  whose  work  gave  American  literature  a 

new  dignity  and  worth.     Many  of  these  persons  lived  until 

after  the  civil  war.     Longfellow  and  Emerson  did  not  die 

until  1882.     Whittier,  Lowell,  and  Holmes  lived  into  the 

last  decade  of  the  century,  the  last  survivors  of  that  great 

coterie  of  New  England  writers  whose  noble  work  in  prose 

*  The  teachers,  in  1899-1900,  including  those  working  in  colleges 
and  universities,  numbered  435,768,  having  doubled  in  thirty  years. 
For  the  support  of  common  public  schools  alone  $213,274,354  were 
expended,  three  and  a  half  times  as  much  as  in  1870-1871.  In  1899- 
1900,  $20.29  were  spent  for  each  pupil ;  in  1870-1871,  $15.20. 


1-1 

A 

o 

c 
o 

o 

o 

a 

£  8 

pq 

B 

00 

N 

CO 

t-  55 

CO 

« 

1 

*' 

o  oo 

c 

o 
ft 

s 

a 
5 

w  5J 

to 

k% 

c 

o 

<w> 

id 
OS 

55 

S& 

fc 

s 

3 

e 

1-1  <w 

Ph 

w 

o 

M 

8 

00 

v 

a  © 

w 
Eh 

P 
to 

§   g 


ft  ~ 

ft 

-1 


8  8 


.„     o     >h     o 


CS       -*       ©      00^     CO       O      00^     C»      l-      ■*       •*_     © ^     QC       rl 

o"   «    co     {f   rf    *     e>    i-     eo"   its'    of    -T 


«i-(MOO»iHiH©-3( 

co    io"    -i    of    o" 
H     i-i     oj     CO     -* 


3    g  i-   S3 


JO       M       CO       I-       1Q       CO       ©       •>       O 
CM       O)       B       -«       00       S       ©       S       CO 

CMCN<Me*e>ic>»eie><eM 


5  a  £ 


e*    o     o     c» 
c>     ex     o     c> 


18  jiSIS 


CO       CO       CO       CO 


■*     m     p     i- 


00       00 


OO       00       00 


3    £ 


OOOOCiOClCiO 


544  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

and  verse  gave  a  new  charm  to  American  literature  and 
added  a  new  interest  and  value  to  American  life.  Ban- 
croft died  in  1891,  leaving  his  history  as  a  great  monument 
of  forty  years  of  toil. 

American   authors   have   been   especially  successful  in 
the  writing  of  history.     John  Lothrop  Motley  by  his  vol- 
umes on  the  history  of  the  Netherlands  won 

hLtT!^  a  Place  by  the  side  of  Prescott  and  Bancroft; 

indeed,  one  may  say  that  in  historical  grasp  and 
appreciation,  in  power  of  analyzing  character,  and  in  the 
beauty,  grace,  and  vigor  of  style  he  is  clearly  their  equal,  if 
not  their  superior.  Above  the  three,  however,  stands  Francis 
Parkman,  in  some  respects  the  greatest  historian  America 
has  produced.  He  had  the  accuracy  and  the  unerring  skill 
of  the  scientific  historian,  and  he  had,  as  well,  imaginative 
insight,  power  of  sympathetic  interpretation,  and  the  abil- 
ity to  clothe  his  thoughts  in  peculiarly  appropriate  and 
charming  language.  Such  a  book  as  Montcalm  and  Wolfe 
is  at  once  a  great  historical  composition  and  a  choice  piece 
of  fine  literature.  Justin  Winsor's  work,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made  many  times  in  the  course  of  this  book, 
may  not  give  him  a  place  among  the  great  writers  of  Amer- 
ica, if  one  judges  by  the  grace  or  felicity  of  expression, 
but  he  was  one  of  America's  most  learned  scholars,  and 
his  investigations  into  the  early  history  of  the  country 
showed  great  critical  ability  and  remarkable  mastery  of 
details.  Among  other  writers  of  history  whose  work  de- 
serves chief  mention  are  Edward  Eggleston,  James  Schou- 
ler,  John  B.  McMaster,  Henry  Adams,  and  J.  F.  Khodes. 

It  would  be  quite  beyond  the  scope  and  purpose  of 
this  book  to  mention  the  names  and  work  of  all  the  men 
who  in  recent  years  have  written,  in  prose  or 
novefiatB8'  oets  verse>  volumes  that  are  entitled  to  rank  as  con- 
tributions to  literature ;  but  we  should  notice 
that  in  this  respect,  as  in  others,  the  American  people  have 
shown  strength  and  development.    While  the  nation  has 


CONCLUSION.  545 

grown  and  prospered,  its  imagination  has  not  lain  dormant 
or  been  consumed  in  the  processes  of  mechanical  invention 
or  the  prosecution  of  business  enterprises.  Novelists  like 
Bret  Ilarte  and  William  D.  Howell s,  poets  like  Edmund  C. 
Stedman  and  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  essayists  like  George 
William  Curtis  and  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  and  many 
others  who  have  written  in  recent  years,  have  shown  rare 
artistic  skill.  "  In  the  science  of  language  and  of  things, 
in  the  works  of  research,  of  history,  and  of  biography,  the 
new  republic  is  closing  the  century  with  brilliancy."  *  In 
fact,  the  student  of  American  life  since  the  civil  war  has 
no  reason  to  be  discouraged.  The  character  of  the  nation 
has  not  deteriorated ;  its  capacity  to  appreciate  the  good 
and  the  beautiful  has  not  lessened ;  its  power  of  production 
in  the  realm  of  imagination  is  not  diminished. 

In  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture   America  has 
done  as  yet  but  little.     In  the  Kevolutionary  days  there 

were    a    few    painters    of    considerable    skill. 

Peale,  Trumbull,  and  Stuart  possessed  real 
talent,  and  they  left  many  portraits  of  historical  characters 
that  are  highly  prized.  But  in  the  course  of  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years  there  seemed  to  be  little  progress ;  no  indication 
was  visible  of  a  development  of  artistic  spirit  among  the 
people  or  of  growth  of  artistic  power.  In  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  there  came  signs  of  an 
awakening ;  a  group  of  young  artists  appeared  who  pos- 
sessed undoubted  genius  ;  those  that  had  been  looking  for 
a  new  birth  of  American  art  felt  that  the  day  had  come. 
There  are  to-day  evidences  of  a  growing  power  of  artistic 
appreciation  in  the  public  at  large.  As  the  Centennial 
Exposition  at  Philadelphia  in  1876  quickened  the  artistic 
spirit  in  America,  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  in  1893  sur- 
prised every  one  by  its  proof  of  wondrous  achievement.     It 

*  Charles  Dudley  Warner  in  Shaler's  The  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, vol.  ii,  p.  413. 


546  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

proved  that  in  various  branches  of  art  the  people  of  Amer- 
ica were  now  producing  works  of  great  merit — paintings, 
statuary,  and  buildings  that  were  worthy  of  any  nation ;  it 
announced  to  the  world  that  the  day  had  gone  by  when 
this  nation  could  be  sneered  at  as  a  mere  race  of  money 
getters ;  it  gave  proof  that  the  art  in  this  country  was  no 
longer  servilely  imitative,  that  it  had  passed  beyond  the 
time  of  pupilage.  The  architecture  of  the  Fair  showed 
that  American  architects  were  artists.  The  on-looker  was 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  American  people,  who  in 
the  course  of  a  few  decades  had  swept  across  a  continent 
and  turned  the  wide  prairies  into  plowland,  were  possessed 
of  more  than  mere  mechanical  skill  and  physical  strength. 
Here  was  evidence  of  a  greater  capacity,  a  power  to  appre- 
ciate beauty,  ability  to  minister  to  the  aesthetic  wants  of 
men.  The  nation  was  shown  instinct  with  a  vigorous  life 
which  gave  hope  for  the  accomplishments  of  the  future. 

One  hundred  years  ago  the  United  States  was  an  ex- 
periment. Students  of  history  who  knew  the  fate  of  re- 
publics in  the  past  hardly  dared  to  hope  that  this  one  could 
live.  The  statesmen  of  Europe  took  little  interest  in  what 
was  done  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  and  did  not  believe 
that  a  free  and  popular  government  could  long  survive 
over  a  numerous  people  and  a  wide  area.  Considering 
democracy  as  little  better  than  anarchy,  they  sneered  at 
the  idea  that  the  masses  of  the  people  were  capable  of 
self-government.  So  far  our  country  has  weathered  the 
storm,  and  we  still  have  hopes  that  democratic  ideals  will 
be  reached.  Politically  the  nation  stands  for  the  principle 
that  the  people  are  the  safest  custodians  of  power,  that  they 
can  be  trusted  to  do  right,  and  that  all  are  the  best  judges 
of  what  is  best  for  all.  The  experience  of  a  century  has 
given  us  confidence ;  the  people  in  many  crises  have  shown 
a  spirit  of  integrity  and  a  capacity  for  self-control.  But  if 
the  future  is  to  substantiate  this  principle,  it  will  be  be- 
cause men  and  women  are  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  honest. 


CONCLUSION. 


547 


No  one  that  looks  about  him  can  fail  to  see  that  the  nation 
is  surrounded  with  perils ;  for  as  the  years  go  by  society 
becomes  more  complex,  its  problems  become  more  difficult, 
and  the  tasks  of  government  increase  ;  and  if  our  country 
is  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  democratic  principle  for  the 
future,  it  will  be  because  the  essentials  of  virtue  and  patriot- 
ism are  cherished.  It  rests  in  large  measure  with  the 
boys  and  girls  that  are  now  at  their  lessons  in  the  schools 
and  academies  of  the  land  to  determine  whether  or  not 
amid  the  perils  of  the  near  future  the  principles  of  popular 
government  will  justify  themselves. 


The  Court  of  Honor  at  the  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago,  1893. 


Mil 


i  i  i 


i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i 

w©©oiraooooooo^oira©-*inoo©e<rM03cc':o<oio©io«o©>2if: 


.5  ^  'p.    ci 

§o.?g 


I  §  §  ©  %  1 1 

5  S  u  ■*  »  "  o 

h)  Ph  H  O  >  W  Ch 


3 1 1  i  I 


^   «  2   «  g   ?    «  ^   g   J  •<    3   3  "5  "3    tj   J   o  ti  J  §  o  'S  j:   c   »  o 


©  O*   O*   1--   1;    CO    © 


)  ci  ?  »  ii  o>  t-  <4  n  *  ei  h  t-  M  h 


g  s*  a  3  sf  s  a  r-i  "4  a  gf  s  g  g  s  s  6  s  a  s  a  s  f= 


88 § IS8SB 

I-   06  oi    on   •«   5-« 

§  S  o  §  o 


1  2 


««  4-11  o»  5s^.J.a     *g 

illJifllllSltlltllliljIllilffllj 


1 1 II 


2 


APPENDIX. 


549 


OcSD 

£2£ 


•/. 


<p  >J 


1*11 


J3^:  o^xi 


,£3     73 

2     d 

C  g  ©<< 


n   O 


^^^>6h°5^> 


.    d    CD 

<1   c3 

d  S 


wffl 

d  A 
H  o 
o  E 


X    G    d 


d 

M 

■A    O 


0  «2  d 

■&  5pd 

o-c  o 


d    . 
o.2 


ro3l5 


d  d 

c3    03 


d  d 
aa 

en  a> 

ps« 


D  3   a)  3 

r^J    C"3     CI, 
U    8    C    » 


^ 


o  a  .2  .22 

3  S  ©  c 
oj  8  a)  j) 


S  6  es^ 


Sis 


550 


HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


6  as  a3 


WTt<COb'O5C000H'H!OHCOO}iO^CO-*Q000'<tHHM 


SO  T-|  TH 


H 

i 

^ 

43 

a3 

73 

0 

3 

c3 

> 

o 

£    .5    .  o  &  o 

i*i>  m     vi,  ^  •"" I  73  73 

r-i  03  0> 

■  .§  q  a 


P   sh    P   p 


■/j 


Sb 


PT3  ^ 

£,    o3        S   £j 

g   O  WpC  Ph 

cpq  o  g^; 

^  °  *  °£ 


«3     P  £ 

Ph  O     C  JT     72 

_i  G  _ i  +j  ft 

o3.2    o3    0-£ 


jtf 

(M  Tt<  <N  t-  «©                 rHCOCSr- 

COT*                             _ 

CO 

OH«r)l 

Ci  00         00  CO 

3° 

H          r-i 

TH 

Ci 

H 

o3 

H 

3 

J 

a 

£ 

m 

JO  OJ  GQ  O 

t-l  t- 

coco 

T* 

o3 

T-H 

O* 

CO 

§  fl  -•  d  j 

So  °o  S 
5tt  c-2  p^ 
»  x-1  ^  X-1  -S 

1-3  p_,  o3  Oh  t[ 

73     S-i 


§  »  1  3  & 

J  s  a  s  © 


If 

P   a:  : 


o     . 


Q  a  n 

o3    2    P 

j-  cg^^  3  3 


2  p^ 


o>   g 

p  5 

P     73  W 

03    2    P 

*    il 

k      o3    O 

K-t-ai-a 


p.p. 

SSjj 

3    0;    3    D 
Ph-^     Ph73 

o  id  m  j) 


03  -w 

o3  -" 

a    OQ 

a  2 

-P    2 

3^ 

P    <3 

p  S 

P-.TJ 

PhT* 

a)  a> 

a>  a> 

«Pn 

«Pm 

P  O 
PhPh 
<U    Qh 


isgo 


?HJ3CC 


00 

,— I 

CQ 

<M 

d 

4)  o  »  o 

>4  4)S 


APPENDIX. 


551 


^00 
CO-tf 
CM 


a 

<D 
CO 
r~, 

§  5  a 

a 

— 

a 

2           •  ^ 

M 

0 

co    to 

J*   co 

J.  C.  Calhoun. 
Nathaniel  Sanf 
Nathaniel  Mace 
Andrew  Jackso 

pq 

3 

> 

3 

53 

s. 

CD 

J.  C.  Calhoun. 
Richard  Rush. 
William  Smith. 

Martin  Van  Bu 
John  Sergeant. 
Henry  Lee. 
Amos  Ellmakei 
William  Wilkii 

R.  M.  Johnson. 
Francis  Grange 
John  Tyler. 
William  Smith 

a 

o 

S-    G 

Sri 

3£ 
**° 

a»Pn 

N 
.    CO 

eg 

h;Pm 

Ph    CD 

CD    o 

b0r§ 

O    CD 
£■« 

Millard  Fillmoi 
William  0.  But 
Charles  F.  Ada 

©  T*«  rH  *> 

ooco 

©OHO         CM  ©  CO  CO  t* 

hho 

©  *o 

CO  *> 

©  00  "<*  CO 

t-00 

I-H   rH   rH 

i~  t-  CM  rH 

rH  CO  © 

t~o 

co  cm 

1-1 

cm 

^^ 

x- 

T-*  -r—t 

l—i   H 

NHCTt- 

rH  £> 

a  ©    oo 

©              © 

t>NC 

CO  CO  © 

rH  HH  CO 

*>  CM  00  00 

COCi 

©  oc    © 

-«#        o 

rH  O  »ft 
©*>C 

H^  CO  ©  ©  -#  co 

QOCOCJO 

CM  © 

iO  rH       rH 

JO            © 

o*  ©  cc 

HlOW 

JO  to  ^  CD 

loo'*'* 

r>af 

i>©      CO 

H               CO~ 

JO00C- 

OOIWOOh 

"tf  © 

00  CO      CO 

©            CO 

i-cm 

CO  Ci  CO  CO  cm  © 

©  to 

©  to 

t»,      t- 

r-Tr-T 

GOC9 

CO^CM 
r-Tr-T 

-^-J^-N 

O  00  COCO 

too* 

lOt-HH 

lOONH 

HC5t> 

lO  rH 

o  o    • 

1— ( 

rH 

r-i 

1-1 

»i     .  hh   ^ 

— * 


CO 

2  *< 


r* 

*»  I*  o 


"^ 


PQ  £1S 


S* 


►»flr! 


E3    CD  h-s  !> 


CO    o3 

.2^> 
o 

p„ 


CI..;-,     s     = 

u.a  co  g  £w  6 

H"'  _C  ^  .2  HH  -H     JP. 

d  tf'cS  g 

• "    S    c3  r?  C    * 


ro        ^h   co   o3 

Mod  w5> 


to    >->  CO 


CO 


—  ^-  — ■  ~  -^ —    •-  cc  „ 

t-T^H 


5  ee  ^.5 


cccc 

c3    o3    £    c3 

3333 

3  3  =3  3 
Q*  &,  Qj  &i 
CU    CO    CD    CD 


.2  3 


la  l 

si    d 

Go    < 


o o  rs* 

O   fee  be  be  bp  bo  2   C 

«33333  5.2 


co  c3  ^: 

H  -r~     CD  — '     C     CD 

G     r*    r~     r-    S     r.j 


r^ 

|Z5 

© 

CM 

© 

CM 

CO 
00 
CM 

© 

Oi 

<M 

to 

CM 

© 
OS 
CM 

5* 

CM 

5* 

CM 

© 
CM 

© 
CM 

© 
CM 

© 

co 

CO 

CM 

CM 

CO 

CO 

00 

36 


552 


HISTORY   OP   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


1     M       • 

■<*©»        tC  t*  go  Q  N  OS  M  (N  *i  t-i  -*  Q  00  00 

Ifl  ■*          S>  H         OOi-tOrtrlOJOOriOOWdS 

t-iomtoMHTiHiO'* 

■*                                             OOQO 

•<*m 

kU 

Ci            niH       ii                 c* 

c* 

5*3 

on 

3 
9 

3 

A 

I 

1 

William  R.  King. 
William  A.  Graham. 
George  W.  Julian. 
J.  C.  Breckinridge. 
William  L.  Dayton. 
Andrew  J.  Donelson. 
Hannibal  Hamlin. 
Joseph  Lane. 
Edward  Everett. 
Herschel  V.  Johnson. 
Andrew  Johnson. 
George  H.  Pendleton. 

•  Offl 

:  a 

■  c 

B.  G.  Brown. 
George  W.  Julian. 
Alfred  H.  Colquitt. 
John  M.  Palmer. 
T.  E.  Bramlette. 
William  S.  Groesbeck. 
Willis  B.  Machen. 
Nathaniel  P.  Banks. 
William  A.  Wheeler. 
T.  A.  Hendricks. 

>> 
-    . 

°3t: 

50 

E 

fa  49  a 

is'ti.a 

> 

o 

:-a  ?3 

•  a 

"o02 

B^ 

.72U< 

&® 

o£m 

g3    g^gi 


CVCOCin 


■<*  co  os  os  Tf  Tt  o*  co  th  t-  l~-  *i 

-('»aX'H'*50ioa5»n  ce  co~ 

8  S  TH  30  CO_CO  CO  CO  lO  CO  5*  CO 


ii  to  •  O  OS  CO  CO 

O.S  •  ©  © -<t  o 

inToT  I  t-^rf  os"o 

so  .©scow 

©.t-  . »n.oo 

«Tcf  •  so"  of 


iiNiMOiW 


tk(  ?:  i  o  x  co  no 


!O«t0«C2'-3 

n-o«oo«io 
f  r-Tos"o»  cs  of  J~  *f 


P^2  =  S.= 


-  a 


'  8  o3 

•as  a 


?- 


3  «: 


>-5|-0f 

X 


3s 

«j   •  a 

•2  •  ° 


sc-a 
a  o 

11 

4 

a  a 
ag 


5  a    .' 


ss^ssojisgs 


>o     a      .-* 


5  ^ 


m  a  «  s 


*-  0)  c3<     . 

o3  £  £  8    •  > 


1-0  72 


+j         .  2  c3  a"  o3  —  a  o  °3  *i 

i#iiiiiii4i 

aijaaa^aa   .o<a 
Q?Sfea«<1«30  a«a 


•J3  ,;  0> 

"3  a  o  ii 
•§  o3  Oft 

fte  a  a 
a?  a  4)  53 
tf  a>QH 
Q 


e'.^  a  gijj 

.2g§--  .igcS 

3  a  S)a  3  =  S 

&a  a;  o  a-e  o 

a>  o>  t-  in  a;  a;  s- 


8       8 


a  z  1 
/.  ^  en 


CO  CO  8  oJ 


33       c2 


CO  W 

S       So 


APPENDIX. 


553 


I   3 


.       o3 

a     -a 

.  a3    .  bC 

3501B 

Mil 

►4<^d 


a  a 

8   .  I 

§  -d      -c  *J      — •  c3 

J   "  oco 


m 


3  .—   L,  ,_, ,_,  —   03 


£■8 


l-       a 

■•a      o 

IIP 


ss- 


Cittt  CO  on 

5JS  SjS 


BS* 


&    & 


C  CO  00  OC  CO  O  T^IOnCJMOnnN 

-TtinMrltMiSti-iOi-tSCjO 
CS00.-11-I         tlOJiH         lCnO«         rH 


CJ  O  i-  J-  »0  CO  J- 

tt  «o  <o  ^f'  oc  tt  si" 


ss 

co  too 

85 


O^t-sMccoqoOHsaomi-sHsM^ 


03   O 


filial 

"E  §  «§  ,2  r-irKCX"c3 


«  a"  a 

-  03  O' 

i&l 


o.2fl2 

i?2,3 

gO'-fl 

E.S-g-2 
<i>  o>  t- a 

tfOPnf 


a.3 


S    -a  c  5 


i-S  a  §  «S 

3"£  S  a  J 

S  S'S.'S  C3a2a.aa3ea«3 


fcfc 


554 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Summary  of  the  States  and  Territories.' 


States  and  Territories. 


Alabama 

Alaska 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia.  . . . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts    

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

North  Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina 

South  Dakota 


SETTLEMENT. 


By  whom. 


French. 
Russians. 
Spanish. 
French. 
Spanish. 
Americans. 
English. 
Swedes. 
Md.  and  Va. 
Spanish. 
English. 
Americans. 
French. 
French. 
Americans. 
Americans. 
Virginians. 
French. 
English. 
English. 
English. 
French. 
Americans. 
French. 
French. 
Americans. 
Americans. 
Americans. 
English. 
Swedes. 
Spanish. 
Dutch. 
English. 
Americans. 
Va.  and  N.  Eng. 
Americans. 
Americans. 
English. 
English. 
English. 
Americans. 


DATE   OF  ACT 
CREATING. 


When.     [Territory. 

I 


1713 
1805 
1598 
1670 
1769 
1832 
1633 
1627 

1565* 

1733 

1834 

1749 

1730 

1833 

1850 

1775 

1699 

1630 

1634 

1620 

1668 

1827 

1716 

1763 

1841 

1810 

1849 

1623 

1627 

1598 

1613 

1650 

1860 

1788 

1890 

1811 

1682 

1636 

1670 

1857 


1817 
1884 
1863 
1819 

1861 

Original 

Original 

1791 

1822 

Original 

1863 

1809 

1800 

1838 

1854 


1805 


Original 

Original 

1805 

1849 

1798 

1812 

1864 

1854 

1861 

Original 

Original 

1850 

Original 

Original 

1861 


1890 

1848 

Original 

Original 

Original 

1861 


*  From  Appletons'  Universal  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  viii,  p.  368, 


APPENDIX. 


555 


Summary  of  the  States  and  Territories — {Continued). 


States  and  Territories. 


Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington  . . 
West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 


SETTLEMENT. 


By  whom. 


N.  C.  and  Va. 

Spanish. 

Americans. 

English. 

English. 

Americans. 

English. 

French. 

Americans. 


When. 


1765 
1630 
1847 
1763 
1607 
1811 
1607 
1750 
1834 


DATE   OF  ACT 
CREATING. 


Territory. 


1850 


Original 
1853 


1836 
1868 


State. 


1796 
1845 
1896 
1791 

State. 
1889 
1863 
1848 
1890 


Cities  of  over  100,000  Inhabitants;  Population  in  1900. 


City. 

Population. 

City. 

Population. 

New  York 

3,437,202 
1,698,575 
1,293,697 
575,238 
560,892 
508,957 
381,768 
352,387 
342,782 
325,902 
287,104 
285,704 
285,315 
278,718 
246,070 
206.433 
204,731 
202,718 
175,997 

Indianapolis 

Kansas  City,  Mo.. . 
St.  Paul 

169,164 
163,752 

Chicago 

Philadelphia 

St.  Louis    

163,065 
162,608 
133,859 
131  822 

Rochester 

Denver 

Boston    

Toledo 

Cleveland 

Allegheny 

Columbus 

Worcester,  Mass., . 
Syracuse 

129,896 

Buffalo 

125,560 

San  Francisco 

Cincinnati 

118,421 
108,374 

New  Orleans 

Detroit 

New  Haven 

Paterson 

108.027 
105,171 

Milwaukee 

Fall  River 

St.  Joseph 

Omaha 

104,863 

Washington 

Newark 

102,979 
102,555 

Jersey  City 

Los  Angeles 

Memphis .... 

102,479 

Louisville    . 

102,320 

.Minneapolis 

Providence 

Scranton  

102,026 

CONSTITUTION 

OF   THE 

UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA. 


We  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do 
ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America. 

ARTICLE   I. 

Sect.  1.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in 
a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
a  House  of  Representatives. 

Sect.  2.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of 
members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhab- 
itant of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

•  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according 
to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding 
to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  serv- 
ice for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths 
of  all  other  persons.  The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made  within 
three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such  mau- 
556 


APPENDIX.  55? 

ner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  number  of  Representatives 
shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  State  shall 
have  at  least  one  representative ;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall 
be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose 
three,  Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions one,  Connecticut  five,  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Penn- 
sylvania eight,  Delaware  one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North 
Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State, 
the  Executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill 
such  vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker  and 
other  officers ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

Sect.  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of 
two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof, 
for  six  years ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of  the 
first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three 
classes.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated 
at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  second  class  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class  at  the  expiration  of 
the  sixth  year,  so  that  one  third  may  be  chosen  every  second  year ; 
and  if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the 
recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may 
make  temporary  appointments  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legis- 
lature, which  shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that 
State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  President 
pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he  shall 
exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation. 
When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice 
shall  preside :  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concur- 
rence of  two  thirds  of  the  members  present. 


558  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than 
to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States  :  but  the 
party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  indict- 
ment, trial,  judgment,  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

Sect.  4.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for 
Senators  and  Representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by 
the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law 
make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing 
Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and  such 
meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall 
by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

Sect.  5.  Each  House  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  a  majority  of  each  shall 
constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business;  but  a  smaller  number  may  ad- 
journ from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attend- 
ance of  absent  members,  in  such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties, 
as  each  House  may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish 
its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of 
two  thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in  their 
judgment  require  secrecy;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of 
either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one  fifth  of  those 
present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without 
the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to 
any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Sect.  6.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  com- 
pensation for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in  all  cases,  ex- 
cept treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from 
arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their  respective 
Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same;  and  for  any 
speech  or  debate  in  either  House  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any 
other  place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  anv  civil  office  under  the  authority 


APPENDIX.  559 

of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  emolu- 
ments whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during  such  time ;  and  no 
person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a  member 
of  either  House  during  his  continuance  in  office. 

Sect.  7.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House 
of  Representatives;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with 
amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Senate  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  if  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but 
if  not  he  shall  return  it  with  his  objections  to  that  House  in  which 
it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  on 
their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  recon- 
sideration two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it 
shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  House,  by 
which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and,  if  approved  by  two 
thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases 
the  votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and 
the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be  en- 
tered on  the  journal  of  each  House  respectively.  If  any  bill  shall 
not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted) 
after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law, 
in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their 
adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a 
law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on 
a  question  of  adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States;  and,  before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall  be 
approved  by  him,  or,  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed 
by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

Sect.  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  power, — 

To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  to  pay  the 
debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of 
the  United  States ;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uni- 
form throughout  the  United  States; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States ; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  sev- 
eral States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes; 


560  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin, 
and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  securing 
for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their 
respective  writings  and  discoveries; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations ; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water; 

To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money  to 
that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy ; 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively,  the 
appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia 
according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of 
particular  States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  and  to  exercise  like  author- 
ity over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines, 
arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful  buildings; — and 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by 
this  Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof. 

Sect.  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 


APPENDIX.  561 

prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  im- 
portation, not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may 
require  it. 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  propor- 
tion to  the  census  or  enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall 
vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or 
pay  duties  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  but  in  consequence 
of  appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  a  regular  statement  and  account 
of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money  shall  be  pub- 
lished from  time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States ;  and 
no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them  shall, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present,  emolu- 
ment, office,  or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince, 
or  foreign  state. 

Sect.  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  con- 
federation: grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  coin  money;  emit 
bills  of  credit ;  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in 
payment  of  debts ;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or 
law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  im- 
posts or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws ;  and  the  net  produce  of 
all  duties  and  imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  imports  or  exports,  shall 
be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  laws 
shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of 
tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any 
agreement  or  compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power, 
or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  dan- 
ger as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 


562  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


ARTICLE   II. 

Sect.  1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  during  the 
term  of  four  years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice-President,  chosen 
for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as  follows : — 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  Electors  equal  to  the  whole  number 
of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled 
in  the  Congress:  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  person  hold- 
ing an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  an  Elector. 

[The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  list 
of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each ; 
which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the 
seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such 
number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed ; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an 
equal  number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
immediately  choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no 
person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the 
said  House  shall  in  like  manner  choose  the  President.  But  in 
choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the 
representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this 
purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two  thirds  of 
the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice.  In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the 
Vice-President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have 
equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the  Vice- 
President. — Repealed  by  Amendment  XII.] 

Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  Electors,  and 
the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes  ;  which  day  shall  be 
the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 


APPENDIX.  563 

No  person  except  a  natural-born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall 
be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  person  be 
eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the 
United  States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice-President,  and 
the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death, 
resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice-President, 
declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  officer 
shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed,  or  a  President 
shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished 
during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall 
not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolument  from  the  United 
States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation: — "  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm) 
that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Sect.  2.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
States  ;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  subject  re- 
lating to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur  ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  min- 
isters, and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein 
otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  law  ;  but 
the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the  appointment  of  such   inferior 


564  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN   NATION. 

officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts 
of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commissions 
which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

Sect.  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  infor- 
mation of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  considera- 
tion such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient;  he 
may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  both  Houses,  or  either  of 
them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  them,  with  respect  to 
the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he 
shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  receive  ambassadors  and  other  public 
ministers ;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed, 
and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

Sect.  4.  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for, 
and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. 

ARTICLE   III. 

Sect.  1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested 
in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress 
may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The  judges,  both  of 
the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services  a  com- 
pensation, which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance 
in  office. 

Sect.  2.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law 
and  equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  au- 
thority; to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers, 
and  consuls ;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction ;  to 
controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party  ;  to 
controversies  between  two  or  more  States,  between  a  State  and  citi- 
zens of  another  State,  between  citizens  of  different  States,  between 
citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands  under  grants  of  different 
States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign 
states,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  party,  the  Supreme 


APPENDIX.  565 

Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  cases  before 
mentioned,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction, 
both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and  under  such  regu- 
lations, as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be 
by  jury ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said 
crimes  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  committed  within 
any  State,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places  as  the  Congress 
may  by  law  have  directed. 

Sect.  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in 
levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason 
unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or 
on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood, 
or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

Sect.  1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to 
the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other 
State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general  laws  prescribe  the  man- 
ner in  which  such  acts,  records,  and  proceedings  shall  be  proved, 
and  the  effect  thereof. 

Sect.  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from  which 
he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  juris- 
diction of  the  crime. 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or 
regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due. 

Sect.  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  Union;  but  no  New  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,    or  parts  of  States,  without 


566  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned,  as  well  as 
of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Sect.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect 
each  of  them  against  invasion ;  and  on  application  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  can  not  be  con- 
vened), against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE   V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  houses  shall  deem  it 
necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the 
application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several  States, 
shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which,  in  either 
case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  this  Con- 
stitution, when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three  fourths  of  the 
several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof,  as  the  one 
or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress; 
provided  that  no  amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  manner  affect 
the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article ; 
and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal 
suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

All  debts  contracted  and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution  as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shnll 
be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  State   Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and 


APPENDIX.  567 

judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States, 
shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this  Constitution ; 
but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any 
office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE   VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  suf- 
ficient for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States 
so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  Convention,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  States 
present,  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  twelfth. 
Xn  Softness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 
[Signed  by]  G°  :  Washington, 

Presidt.  and  Deputy  from  Virginia, 
and  by  thirty-nine  delegates. 


37 


AETICLES 

IN  ADDITION  TO,  AND  AMENDMENT  OF, 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


ARTICLE   I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  re- 
ligion, or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the 
freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  peace- 
ably to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
grievances. 

ARTICLE   II. 

A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE   III. 

No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  man- 
ner to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall 
not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause, 
supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the 
place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  in- 
famous crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury, 
except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia, 
568 


APPENDIX.  569 

when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy 
of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a 
witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for 
public  use  without  just  compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  dis- 
trict wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district 
shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his 
defence. 

ARTICLE   VII. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  com- 
mon law. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE   IX. 
The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE   X. 
The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE   XL 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or  by 
citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 


570  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

ARTICLE  XII. 
The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least, 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves  ;  they 
shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in 
distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President ;  and  they 
shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of 
all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes 
for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed 
to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate  ;— the  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted  ; — the  person  having 
the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President  shall  be  the  President,  if 
such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  ap- 
pointed ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  per- 
sons having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of 
those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the 
President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from 
each  State  having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist 
of  a  member  or  members  from  two  thirds  of  the  States,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President,  whenever  the 
right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of 
March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the 
President.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice- 
President  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a 
majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list  the  Senate 
shall  choose  the  Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall 
consist  of  two  thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no 
person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be 
eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE   XIII. 
Sect.  1.     Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 


APPENDIX.  571 

victed,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

Sect.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 

ARTICLE   XIV. 

Sect.  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of 
the  laws. 

Sect.  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  sev- 
eral States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of 
Electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  a 
State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except 
for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representa- 
tion therein  shall  be  reduced  in  1  he  proportion  which  the  number 
of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citi- 
zens twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Sect.  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  Elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any 
State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State, 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged 
in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  com- 
fort to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two 
thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

Sect.  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions 
and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion, 


572  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 

shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United 
State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for 
the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave  ;  but  all  such  debts,  obliga- 
tions, and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

Sect.  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appro- 
priate legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

Sect.  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  State  to  vote  shall 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any  State,  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Sect.  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 


INDEX 


Abercrombie,  General,  146. 

Abolitionists,  334,  342,  347 ;  perse- 
cuted, 343. 

Adams,  Charles  F.,  374,  456. 

Adams,  John,  quoted,  159 ;  defends 
British  soldiers,  183 ;  peace  commis- 
sioner, 213  ;  Vice-President,  234 ; 
President,  252-259;  character,  252; 
portrait,  253. 

Adams,  John  Q.,  Secretary  of  State, 
296;  elected  President,  310  ;  admin- 
istration, 311-321;  portrait,  311; 
character,  311 ;  opposed  to  gag 
rule,  344. 

Adams,  Samuel,  portrait,  152 ;  in  the 
town  meeting,  183. 

Agriculture,  Department  of,  514. 

Alabama  admitted,  298;  joins  Con- 
federacy, 420 ;  readmitted,  478. 

Alabama  claims,  457,  485. 

Alabama,  the,  456. 

Alaska  purchased,  478. 

Alexander  VI,  bull  of,  24. 

Alien  law,  256. 

Amendments,  first  ten,  231 ;  the 
eleventh,  250 ;  the  twelfth,  258  ;  the 
thirteenth,  468,  473  ;  the  fourteenth, 
474,  475,  478  ;  the  fifteenth,  483. 

America,  origin  of  man  in,  1  ;  discov- 
ery of,  by  Columbus,  16 ;  naming  of, 
21. 

American  people,  condition  of,  in  1765, 
151-168;  in  1830,  333-337;  in  1898, 
536,  537.  See  also  Industrial  Condi- 
tions. 

Amherst,  General  Jeffrey,  147. 


Anarchist  riot,  513. 

Anderson,  Major,  413,  419. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  95, 103, 105. 

Annapolis  convention,  224. 

Annexation  of  Louisiana,  262,  268  ;  of 
Florida,  302 ;  of  Texas,  356 ;  of  Ore- 
gon, 360 ;  of  California  and  the 
West,  368 ;  Gadsden  purchase,  369  ; 
of  Alaska,  479  ;  of  Hawaii,  533  ;  of 
Puerto  Eico,  532. 

Antietam,  battle  of,  439. 

Appomattox,  surrender  of  Lee  at,  465. 

Arbitration  (see  Alabama  Claims,  Seal 
Fisheries) ;  of  Venezuelan  dispute, 
526 ;  treaty,  527. 

Aristotle,  quoted,  13. 

Arkansas  admitted,  336  ;  secedes,  420 ; 
readmitted,  478. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  attacks  Quebec, 
194 ;  treason,  210. 

Art  in  America,  545. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  504;  becomes  President, 
507 ;  character,  507. 

Articles  of  Confederation.  See  Con- 
federation. 

Ash  burton  treaty,  the,  351. 

Asia,  desire  to  reach,  18. 

Association,  the,  186. 

Assumption  of  State  debts,  240,  241. 

Atlanta,  capture  of,  458. 

Azores,  the,  24. 

Bacon's  rebellion,  52. 
Balboa,  23. 
Ballot  reform,  519. 

573 


574 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Baltimore,  Lord,  55 ;  founds  Mary- 
land, 58. 

Bancroft,  George,  333,  359. 

Bank,  the  first,  241 ;  the  second,  293, 
302 ;  new  charter  vetoed,  329 ;  re- 
moval of  deposits,  331 ;  National 
Bank  Act,  449, 450. 

Barclay,  Commodore,  286. 

Barnburners,  the,  373,  374. 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  490. 

Bell,  John,  nominated  for  President, 
409. 

Belligerency  of  Confederacy,  425. 

Bennington,  battle  of,  203. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  quoted,  301,  364; 
offers  expunging  resolution,  331. 

Berkeley,  Lord  John,  105. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  51 ;  quoted,  53. 

Birney,  James  G.,  347,  355. 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,  399,  413. 

Blaine,  J.  G.,  nominated  for  presi- 
dency, 509. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  Jr.,  nominated  for 
vice-presidency,  480. 

Booth,  J.  W.,  469. 

Boston,  founded,  80;  evacuated  by 
British,  193  ;  maps,  192, 193. 

Boston  massacre,  the,  182,  188. 

Boston  Tea  Party,  the,  184. 

Boundary  of  the  United  States,  213, 
351,  487.     See  also  Annexation. 

Braddock's  defeat,  142. 

Bradford,  William,  quoted,  71-75;  his 
manuscript  history,  73. 

Bradley,  J.  P.,  497. 

Bragg,  General,  433,  434,  447,  448. 

Brandywine,  battle  of,  204. 

Breckenridge,  John  C,  elected  Vice- 
President,  397 ;  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, 409. 

Bristow,  B.  H.,  490. 

Brown,  B.  G.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  488. 

Brown,  General  J.,  288. 

Brown,  John,  raid  of,  407;  his  fort, 
408. 

Bryan,  William  J.,  528. 


Buchanan,  James,  Secretary  of  State, 
359;  minister  to  England,  387; 
elected  President,  396,  397  ;  portrait, 
398 ;  character,  398  ;  administration, 
398-416;  message,  412;  the  South- 
ern forts,  413. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  528. 

Buell,  General,  426,  430,  432. 

Buena  Vista,  battle  of,  366. 

Bull  of  demarcation,  24. 

Bull  Eun,  battle  of,  423. 

Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  192. 

Burgoyne,  General  John,  surrenders, 
203. 

Burke,  Edmund,  quoted,  119, 158, 167, 
181. 

Burnside,  General,  439. 

Burr,  Aaron,  elected  Vice-President, 
258 ;  duel  with  Hamilton,  268 ;  con- 
spiracy, 269. 

Butler,  William  O.,  373. 

Cabinet,  the  first,  235 ;  nature  of,  236 ; 
changes  in,  250. 

Cabot,  John,  19. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  19. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  enters  Congress, 
279  ;  Secretary  of  War,  296  ;  princi- 
ples, 294,  325,  380,  415 ;  portrait,  326 ; 
resigns  vice-presidency,  328;  quoted, 
363 ;  position  on  slavery,  372,  379. 

California,  desire  to  obtain,  362;  con- 
quered, 367 ;  annexed,  368  ;  gold 
discovered,  376;  admitted,  377-381. 

Calvert,  Cecilius,  55. 

Calvert,  George  (see  Baltimore),  55. 

Camden,  battle  of,  208. 

Cameron,  Simon,  418,  429. 

Canada.     See  New  France. 

Cape  Verde  Islands,  24. 

Carolinas,  the,  early  history,  61-66; 
charter,  62 ;  map  of  grant,  62;  be- 
ginning of  North  Carolina,  63;  be- 
ginning of  South  Carolina,  63; 
Locke's  "Grand  Model,"  63;  be- 
come royal  colonies,  124.  See  also 
North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina. 


INDEX. 


575 


Caroline  affair,  the,  351. 

Carpet-bag  government,  478,  484. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  105. 

Carteret,  Philip,  105. 

Cartier,  Jacques,  29. 

Cass,  Lewis,  325 ;  writes  Nicholson 
letter,  372  ;  nominated  for  President, 
373;  Secretary  of  State,  398;  re- 
signs, 413. 

Cavaliers,  immigration  of,  49,  50. 

Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  455. 

Centennial  Exposition,  the,  493,  498. 

Cerro  Gordo,  battle  of,  367. 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  130. 

Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  445. 

Chapul tepee,  battle  of,  367. 

Charles  I,  49,  61,  75. 

Charles  II,  52,  62,  94. 

Charleston  founded,  63;  convention 
at,  410;  map,  419. 

Charleston  Mercury,  411. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  386;  Secretary  of 
Treasury,  418,  419 ;  resigns,  460, 
461 ;  portrait,  461 ;  presides  at  im- 
peachment trial,  477. 

Chattanooga,  battle  of,  447,  448. 

Chesapeake,  the  affair  of  the,  273. 

Chicago,  283,  336,  589. 

Chickamauga,  battle  of,  447. 

Chili,  trouble  with,  518. 

Chinese,  exclusion  of,  508. 

Chippewa,  battle  of,  288. 

Christ  Church,  Boston,  view  of,  128. 

Cincinnati  in  1810,  298. 

Cities,  growth  of,  539.  See  also  Indus- 
trial Conditions. 

Civil  Eights  bill,  474. 

Civil-service  reform,  488,  507. 

Civil  war,  causes,  409-416;  progress, 
419-465 ;  losses,  467  ;  effects,  483. 

Claiborne,  William,  58. 

Clark,  George  Kogers,  services,  207. 

Clay,  Henry,  as  speaker,  279,  280  ;  and 
the  Missouri  compromise,  306  ;  por- 
trait, 309  ;  candidate  for  President, 
310;  Secretary  of  State,  310;  char- 
acter,   330 ;    candidate     for    presi- 


dency, 330,  354,  355 ;  in  1840,  346  ; 
offers  compromise  of  1850,  378 ; 
death,  385. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  elected  President, 
509  ;  life  and  character,  510  :  por- 
trait, 511 ;  first  administration,  510- 
514;  renominated,  513;  renomi- 
nated and  elected,  519;  second 
administration,  520-527 ;  Hawaiian 
policy,  521 ;  Venezuelan  message, 
525. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  285,  314. 

Clinton,  George,  Vice-President,  268, 
275. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  197,  206. 

Cobb,  Howell,  398, 413. 

Cochrane,  John,  461. 

Cold  Harbor,  battle  of,  454. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 480. 

Colonies.  See  English  Colonies,  En- 
glish Colonization,  French  Coloni- 
zation, etc. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  early  life,  11 ; 
first  voyage,  16  ;  discovers  America, 
16  ;  other  discoveries,  18  ;  portrait 
of,  11 ;  house  in  which  he  died,  27. 

Commerce  with  the  East,  7. 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  183. 

Compromise,  in  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, 227,  228;  Missouri,  305; 
of  1833,  328 ;  of  1850,  378-382 ;  the 
Crittenden,  414. 

Confederacy,  Southern,  formed,  414, 
415 ;  belligerency  acknowledged, 
425 ;  difficulty  in  supporting  war, 
466. 

Confederation,  Articles  of,  proposed, 
206,  216;  ratified,  216;  character, 
216  ;  trouble  during,  218-220,  224. 

Confederation,  New  England,  91. 

Congress,  the  Albany,  139.  See  also 
Continental  Congress. 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  506. 

Connecticut,  87-89 ;  "Constitution  of, 
88 ;  charter,  92 ;  in  confederation, 
91 ;  in  eighteenth  century,  120. 


576 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Constitution  framed,  224-229  ;  charac- 
ter, 229, 232  ;  ratified,  230,  231 ;  broad 
and  strict  construction,  242. 

Constitution,  the,  battle  of,  with  the 
Guerriere,  284 ;  cut  of,  284. 

Constitutions,  first  State,  196. 

Continental  Congress,  the  First,  185  ; 
its  declarations,  186  ;  Articles  of  As- 
sociation, 186. 

Continental  Congress,  the  Second, 
meets,  191  ;  incompetency,  205 ;  pow- 
ers of,  216. 

Convention,  the  Federal,  meeting  of, 
224 :  membership,  224 ;  work  of,  225- 
228. 

Cornwallis,  General,  199;  baffled  by 
Washington,  200 ;  in  the  South,  208- 
211 ;  baffled  by  Lafayette,  210  ;  sur- 
renders, 211. 

Coronado,  23. 

Cortez,  Hernando,  23. 

Cotton,  300,  404,  426. 

Cotton  gin,  300. 

Court,  Federal,  established,  239 ;  sec- 
ond judiciary  act,  265;  judges  im- 
peached, 265,  266. 

Courtesies  of  the  Senate,  506. 

Crandall,  Prudence,  343. 

Crawford,  William  II.,  296,  310. 

Credit  Mobilier,  490. 

Crown  Point,  attacked  by  English, 
143  ;  taken  by  Americans,  191. 

Cuba,  desire  to  obtain,  387,  412 ;  rebel- 
lion in,  525,  529  ;  United  States  de- 
clares independence  of,  531,  532. 

Cumberland  road,  294. 

Currency,  292,  449,  450,  467,  492,  520, 
527  ;  demonetization  of  silver,  501  ; 
Bland-Allison  Bill,  501  ;  the  silver 
question,  510,  517,  522,  527,  528 ;  the 
Sherman  Act,  517,  522. 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  42. 

Dallas,  George  M.,  Vice-President,  354. 

Davis,    Jefferson,    386 ;    Confederate 

President,  415;  portrait,  415. 
Davis,  John,  31. 


Dayton,  William  L.,  397. 

Dearborn,  General,  287. 

Debt,  national,  240, 467,  481 ;  State,  as- 
sumption of,  240,  241. 

Delaware,  Lord,  42. 

Delaware,  early  history,  101, 113. 

Democracy,  334-336,  546. 

Democratic  party,  divided,  409  ;  atti- 
tude toward  the  war,  429.  See  also 
Party. 

De  Soto,  23. 

Detroit,  surrender  of,  283. 

Development  of  the  United  States, 
536-547. 

Dewey,  Commodore,  532. 

Dickinson,  John,  181;  portrait  of,  180. 

Discovery,  Spanish,  23. 

Dixon,  Archibald,  388. 

Donelson,  Andrew  J.,  397. 

Donelson,  Fort,  430,  431. 

Dorr  rebellion,  the,  352. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  supports  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  388,  391 ;  debate  with 
Lincoln,  402;  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, 409. 

Draft,  the,  451  ;  riots,  451. 

Drake,  Sir  Franeis,  voyages  of,  31. 

Dred  Scott  case,  399. 

Duquesne,  Fort,  142,  147. 

Dutch,  the,  settle  in  America,  97  ;  lose 
New  Netherland,  102 ;  character  of, 
97,  104. 

Earle,  Thomas,  347. 

Early,  General,  455. 

East,  the,  books  on,  8. 

Education,  in  colonies,  54,  83,  156, 159, 
161,  333;  in  the  United  States,  333, 
542. 

Eighteenth  century,  character  of,  118, 
127;  history  of,  116-125. 

Election  of  1789,  284 ;  1792,  245  ;  1796, 
252;  1800,  258;  1804,  268;  1808, 
275  ;  1812,  285  ;  1816,  294  ;  1820,  307 ; 
1824,  310  ;  1828,  319,  320  ;  1832,  329, 
330  ;  1836,  338 ;  1840,  345-348 ;  1844, 
354-356;  1848,  373,374;  1852,  385; 


INDEX. 


577 


1856,  396  ;  1860,  409  ;  1864,  460-462  ; 
1868,  480  ;  1872,  487,  488  ;  1876,  494- 
497  ;  1880,  504,  505;  1884,  509  ;  1888, 
514;  1892,519;  1896,527,528. 

Electoral  Commission,  the,  496. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  225. 

Emancipation  proclamation,  facsimile 
of,  442  ;  issued,  443 ;  results,  444. 

Embargo,  274. 

Endicott,  John,  78. 

England,  in  sixteenth  century,  28 ; 
hatred  of  Spain,  30  ;  claims  in  eight- 
eenth century,  116,  125 ;  wars  with 
France,  117,  129-150,  271 ;  war  with 
Spain,  127  ;  claims  the  West,  140  ; 
condition  of,  143 ;  trouble  with, 
246-248  ;  at  war  with  France,  246  ; 
War  of  1812,  281-291 ;  treaty  with, 
see  Treaties ;  acknowledges  bel- 
ligerency of  South,  425 ;  and  the 
Trent  affair,  429  ;  Alabama  trouble, 
see  Alabama  Claims  ;  Venezuela 
question,  525. 

English  colonies,  political  character, 
118  ;  in  eighteenth  century,  116-128  ; 
conditions,  151-168;  schools,  156; 
local  government,  163-165 ;  forms 
of  government,  166. 

English  colonization,  motives  for,  32, 
34 ;  character  of,  136, 145. 

English,  W.  II.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  504. 

Era  of  good  feeling,  297,  310. 

Ericson,  Leif,  4. 

Erie  Canal,  314. 

Erskine  treaty,  276. 

Essex,  cruise  of,  290. 

Everett,  Edward,  quoted,  387;  nomi- 
nated for  Vice-President,  409. 

Expunging  resolution,  331. 

Fair  Oaks,  battle  of,  436. 

Farragut,  David  G.,  435,  436. 

Federalist,  the,  231. 

Federalist  party,  255  (see  also  Party) ; 

downfall,  257. 
Fessenden,  William  P.,  461. 


Field,  James  G.,  520. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 374 ;  President,  382-386 ;  char- 
acter, 382  ;  nominated  for  President, 
397. 

Financial  questions.  See  Currency, 
Banks,  Debt. 

Fisheries,  the,  486. 

Five  Nations,  the.     See  Iroquois. 

Florida,  annexed,  302  ;  admitted,  376  ; 
joins  Confederacy,  420  ;  readmitted, 
478 ;  election  of  1876  in,  495. 

Florida,  West,  Spanish  claim  to,  213, 
264 ;  seized,  264. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  398,  413.      . 

Foote,  Commodore,  430,  432. 

Force  bills,  485. 

Fox,  George,  108, 109. 

France,  in  sixteenth  century,  28  ;  wars 
with  England,  117,  129-150,  271; 
colonization,  130  ;  claims  Mississippi 
Valley,  140  ;  in  eighteenth  century, 
144 ;  alliance  with,  204,  206  ;  sends 
Genet  to  America,  247 ;  difficulties 
with,  253-255,  273,  276.  See  also 
New  France. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  plan  of  Union, 
139;  portrait,  162;  birthplace,  162; 
in  France,  204  ;  peace  commissioner, 
212 ;  in  Philadelphia  convention, 
224. 

Frederick,  King,  143. 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  439,  440. 

Free-soil  party.     See  Party. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  355. 

Fremont,  John  C,  nominated  for 
President,  397,  461. 

French  and  Indian  War,  142-150;  im- 
portant results  of,  148,  150. 

French  colonization,  failure  of,  in 
South,  29 ;  success  of,  in  North, 
29;  beginnings,  130;  character, 
136. 

French  decrees,  273,  277. 

French  explorers,  133. 

Friends.     See  Quakers. 

Frobisher,  Martin,  31. 


578 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Fugitive  slave  law,  381 ;  violated,  393, 
400. 

Gadsden  purchase,  the,  369. 

Gage,  General,  192. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  261. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  mentioned,  430; 
elected  President,  504;  administra- 
tion, 505-508 ;  life  and  character, 
505 ;  assassinated,  507. 

Garrison,  William  L.,  342. 

Gaspee,  the,  destroyed,  183. 

Gates,  General  Horatio,  203;  defeated 
at  Camden,  208. 

Genet,  Citizen,  247. 

Geneva  award,  the,  486. 

Geography,  early  knowledge  of,  12. 

George,  Fort,  287. 

George  III,  purposes  of,  171, 184 ;  hires 
mercenaries,  193  ;  loses  America,  212. 

Gcrmantown,  battle  of,  204. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  Commissioner,  254; 
Vice-President,  285. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  445. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  32. 

Gorges,  Ferdinando,  89  ;  grant  to,  90. 

Graham,  William  A.,  385. 

Granger,  Francis,  338. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  quoted,  367,  459  ;  in 
civil  war,  427,  430,  432,  434,  446, 
452-455, 464,  465 ;  elected  President, 
480;  administration,  481-498;  life 
and  character,  481 ;  portrait,  482 ; 
re-elected,  488. 

Greeley,  Horace,  quoted,  424;  nomi- 
nated for  presidency,  488. 

Greenback  party,  the,  494. 

Greenbacks,  issued,  449;  specie  pay- 
ment, 493,  504. 

Greene,  General  Nathanael,  in  the 
South,  210;  portrait,  211. 

Greenville,  George,  175. 

Greenville,  treaty  of,  249. 

Greaham,  Walter  Q.,  521. 

Guilford,  battle  of,  210. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  101. 


Hale,  John  P.,  385. 

"  Half-breeds,"  the,  506. 

Halifax  award,  the,  487. 

Halleck,  General,  426, 427, 430, 433, 437. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  in  Philadelphia 
convention,  225 ;  in  New  York 
convention,  231 ;  writes  Federalist 
articles,  231 ;  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, 235-250;  financial  plans,  240- 
242 ;  portrait,  240 ;  character,  268. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  121. 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 409,  410 ;  mentioned,  462. 

Hampton  Koads,  battle  of,  434,  435. 

Hancock,  General  W.  S.,  nominated 
for  presidency,  504. 

Harper's  Ferry,  seized  by  Brown,  408 ; 
captured,  439. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  elected  President, 
514 ;  administration,  515-520 ;  por- 
trait, 515;  renominated,  519. 

Harrison,  William  IL,  at  battle  of  Tip- 
pecanoe, 279 ;  at  the  Thames,  286; 
nominated  for  presidency,  338,  346  ; 
elected,  348 ;  administration,  348, 
349 ;  death,  349. 

Hartford  convention,  291. 

Harvard  College  founded,  84. 

Harvey,  Sir  John,  expulsion  of,  49. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  revolution  in,  521 ; 
annexed,  535 ;  map  of,  534. 

Hawkins,  John,  31. 

Hayes,  R.  B.,  nominated  for  presi- 
dency, 494 ;  elected,  497  ;  life  and 
character,  499 ;  portrait,  499 ;  ad- 
ministration, 499-505 ;  vetoes  Bland- 
Allison  Bill,  501  ;  opposed  to  riders, 
503. 

Hendricks,  T.  A.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  494. 

Henry,  Fort,  430,  432. 

Henry,  Patrick,  portrait  of,  170 ; 
speech  in  .parson's  cause,  174  ;  reso- 
lutions, 177. 

Herjulfsson,  Bjarni,  4. 

Herkimer,  General  Nicholas,  203. 

Historical  writing,  544. 


INDEX. 


579 


Hobart,  Garret  A.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 527. 

Holland  in  seventeenth  century,  97. 

Holmes,  O.  W.,  542. 

Holy  Alliance,  the,  307. 

Hood,  General,  458,  460. 

Hooker,  General,  445,  448. 

Houston,  Samuel,  354. 

Howe,  General,  193,  198  ;  failure,  199  ; 
proceeds  to  Philadelphia,  204. 

Howe,  Richard,  offers  pardon,  198. 

Hudson,  Henry,  97. 

Hull,  Commodore  Isaac,  284. 

Hull,  General  William,  283. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  banished,  86. 

Idaho  admitted,  514. 

Illinois  admitted,  298. 

Immigration,  299,  538. 

Impeachment,  of  judges,  266 ;  of  Pres- 
ident, 477 ;  of  Secretary  of  War,  491. 

Implied  powers,  242. 

Impressment,  272,  281. 

Income  tax,  525. 

Indented  servants,  44, 153. 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  194; 
original  draft,  195. 

Independence  Hall,  view  of,  215. 

Independent  Treasury,  341. 

Indiana,  admitted,  298. 

Indians,  the,  groups  of,  3 ;  the  five 
nations,  4 ;  at  Plymouth,  74  ;  the  Pe- 
quot  War,  89;  King  Philip's  War, 
93 ;  hostile,  248 ;  defeated,  249 ;  in 
War  of  1812,  278,  286 ;  in  Georgia, 
318 ;  removed  to  reservations,  318 
note;  Seminole  War,  345. 

Industrial  conditions,  151-156,  158, 
161,  220,  271,  274,  301,  331,  333,  336, 
340,  383,  384,  403-407,  420,  448-451, 
481,  492,  493,  522,  524;  railroads, 
315-317  ;  strikes,  502,  524;  labor  or- 
ganizations, 512 :  changes  of  a  cen- 
tury, 536-540.    See  also  West,  The. 

Ingersoll,  Jared,  285. 

Intercolonial  wars,  117. 

Internal  improvements,  294,  314,  337. 


Interstate  Commerce  Act,  512. 
Intolerable  acts,  the  five,  184. 
Intolerance,   in   Massachusetts,  84,  86, 

91 ;  in  England,  70. 
Inventions,  270,  333,  353,  383. 
Iowa  admitted,  376. 
Iroquois,  character,  4;  friends  of  the 

Dutch,   100 ;    foes  of   the   French, 

131 ;  map  of  country,  132 ;  defeated, 

207.     See  also  Indians. 
Italy,  trouble  with,  518. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  defeats  Indians, 
287 ;  at  New  Orleans,  291 ;  candi- 
date for  President,  310 ;  elected 
President,  320 ;  portrait,  322 ;  char- 
acter, 322 ;  President,  322-339 ;  proc- 
lamation, 328 ;  vetoes  Bank  Bill, 
329  ;  withdraws  deposits,  330. 

Jackson,  British  minister,  276. 

Jackson,  Thomas  J.,  436,  438 ;  por- 
trait, 439. 

Jacksonian  era,  characteristics,  334. 

James  I,  36,  48,  75. 

James  II,  94,  96, 102, 103. 

Jamestown,  Va.,  settlement  of,  38; 
early  history,  39-41. 

Jay,  John,  peace  commissioner,  212; 
writes  in  the  Federalist,  231 ;  por- 
trait, 234;  chief  justice,  239;  envoy, 
249 ;  his  treaty,  250. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  quoted,  154,  261  ; 
drafts  Declaration  of  Independence, 
196;  peace  commissioner,  213  ;  sub- 
mits ordinance  of  1784,  223  ;  Secre- 
tary of  State,  235,  242,  250 ;  Vice- 
President,  252 ;  elected  President, 
258, 268 ;  presidency,  260-275 ;  char- 
acter and  principles,  260  ;  portrait, 
260  ;  buys  Louisiana,  262-265  ;  em- 
bargo policy,  274. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 462 ;  President,  470 ;  character, 
470  ;  administration,  469-481 ;  im- 
peachment of,  477  ;  plans  of  recon- 
struction, 472. 

Johnson,  Herschel  V.,  409. 


580 


HISTORY  OF   THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Johnson,  Richard  M.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  338. 

Johnston,  General  A.  S.,  430  ;  portrait, 
430 ;  killed,  433. 

Johnston,  General  J.  E.,  423,  430,  437, 
458,  464,  465  ;  portrait,  424. 

Joliet,  his  map,  134 ;  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, 135. 

Jones,  John  Paul,  208. 

Judiciary.    See  Courts. 

Judiciary  act,  265. 

Julian,  George  W.,  385. 

Kansas,  struggle  in,  393-395,  401. 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  389. 

Kearny,  General,  366. 

Kearsarge,  the,  tight  with  the  Ala- 
bama, 457. 

Kenesaw  Mountain,  battle  of,  458. 

Kentucky,  admitted,  250;  resolutions, 
256  ;  does  not  join  Confederacy,  427. 

King,  Eufus,  224,  226,  268,  275. 

King,  William  R.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 385. 

King  George's  War,  139. 

King  William's  War,  138. 

King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  209. 

Know-Nothing  party,  392. 

Knox,  Henry,  237  ;  portrait,  238. 

Ku-Klux-Klan,  484. 

Labor.    See  Industrial  Conditions. 
Labor  organizations,  512. 
Ladrone  Islands,  532. 
Lafayette,  Marquis  do,  205. 
La  Hontan's  Map,  137. 
Lake  Champlain,  battle  of,  288. 
Lake  Erie,  battle  of,  286. 
Lane,  Joseph,  409. 
La  Salle,  Robert  de,  135. 
Las  Casas,  mentioned,  16. 
Laud,  William,  75,  84. 
Laurens,  Henry,  213. 
Lawrence,  Captain,  287. 
Lecompton  Constitution,  402. 
Lee,   General    Charles,    treachery  of, 
206. 


Lee,  Richard  Henry,  194. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  437,  439,  445,  452-454, 
464-465 ;  portrait,  437. 

Legal  Tender  Act,  449. 

Leisler,  Jacob,  103. 

Lenox  globe,  22. 

Lewis  and  Clark,  expedition  of,  270. 

Lexington,  battle  of,  190. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  debates  with 
Douglas,  402;  elected  President, 
409,  410;  administration,  417,  468; 
life  and  character,  417 ;  portrait, 
417  ;  tirst  acts  against  secession,  428  ; 
attitude  toward  emancipation,  441 ; 
issues  proclamation,  442 ;  renomi- 
nated and  elected,  460-463  ;  assassi- 
nation, 469. 

Lincoln,  General  Benjamin,  208. 

Literature,  American,  332,  542-545. 

Livingston,  Edward,  325. 

Livingston,  Robert  R.,  262. 

Locke,  John,  63. 

Loco-foco  party,  346. 

Logan,  John  A.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  509. 

London  Company,  36 ;  grant  under 
charter  of  1609,  40,  41  ;  map  of  grant, 
41 ;  general  courts,  45  ;  loss  of  charter, 
48. 

Long  Island,  battle  of,  198. 

Lookout  Mountain,  battle  of,  448. 

Loudon,  General,  146. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  261-264 ;  State 
admitted,  297;  State  joins  Confed- 
eracy, 420  ;  readmitted,  478  ;  elec- 
tion of  1876  in,  495. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  343. 

Lowell,  James  R.,  quoted,  365,  410 ; 
mentioned,  542. 

Lundy's  Lane,  battle  of,  288. 

Macdonough,  Commodore,  288. 

Macon  Bill  No.  2,  277. 

Madison,  James,  in  Philadelphia  con- 
vention, 224,  226  ;  quoted,  218,  230  ; 
writes  in  the  Federalist,  231  ;  op- 
poses the  bank  bill,  241 ;  writes  the 


INDEX. 


581 


Virginia  resolutions,  256  ;  Secretary 
of  State,  261 ;  elected  President, 
275;  administration,  275-295;  char- 
acter, 276 ;  portrait,  276. 

Magellan,  Ferdinand,  voyage  of,  21. 

Maine  founded,  89  ;  part  of  Massachu- 
setts, 90,  96  ;  admitted,  298. 

Maine,  the  destruction  of  the,  530 ; 
picture  of  the,  531. 

Mandeville,  Sir  John,  Voyage  and 
Travels  of,  8. 

Manifest  destiny,  363,  387. 

Manufactures,  539.  See  also  Industrial 
Conditions. 

Marbury  vs.  Madison,  265. 

Marcy,  W.  L.,  quoted,  324 ;  Secretary 
of  War,  359. 

Marietta,  Ga.,  battle  near,  458. 

Marietta,  Ohio,  founded,  248  ;  picture, 
248,  321. 

Marquette,  134,  135. 

Marshall,  John,  commissioner,  253  ; 
chief  justice,  266  ;  portrait,  266. 

Maryland,  early  history,  54-61 ; 
charter,  55  ;  map  of  grant,  56  ;  Tolera- 
tion Act,  59 ;  does  not  join  the  Con- 
federacy, 420,  421. 

Mason,  George,  227^  303 ;  home  of, 
155. 

Mason,  John,  89  ;  grant  to,  90. 

Mason,  John  Y.,  387. 

Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  56. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  Company  of,  78 ; 
the  charter  of,  78.  See  also  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Massachusetts,  settlement,  76 ;  charac- 
ter of  settlers,  77 ;  the  land  grant, 
78  ;  intolerance,  86,  91 ;  representa- 
tive government  in,  82;  towns,  83 ; 
in  confederation,  91  ;  under  Andros, 
94;  given  new  charter,  96;  extent 
of,  96;  in  eighteenth  century,  119. 

Maximilian,  Archduke,  479. 

Mayflower  compact,  the,  72. 

McClellan,424,  436-439  ;  portrait,  425  ; 
nominated  for  presidency,  462. 

McDowell,  General,  424. 


McKinley,  William,  his  tariff  measure, 
517 ;  elected  President,  527 ;  life, 
528 ;  portrait,  529  ;  message  on  Cuba, 
531. 

Meade,  General,  445 ;  portrait,  444. 

Mercator,  map  of,  24,  25. 

Merrimac,  the,  434. 

Mexico,  people  of,  2 ;  conquest  of,  23 ; 
trouble  with  Texas,  354  ;  war  with, 
364-368  ;  Maximilian  in,  479. 

Michigan  in  hands  of  British,  283 ;  ad- 
mitted, 336. 

Military  situation  in  civil  war,  421,  422, 
424,  427  ;  in  1862,  430,  432,  440,  445  ; 
in  1863,  453 ;  in  1864,  452,  453,  457. 

Mill  Spring,  battle  of,  430. 

Missionary  Ridge,  battle  of,  448. 

Mississippi  admitted,  298 ;  joins  con- 
federacy, 420. 

Missouri,  admitted,  298  ;  does  not  join 
Confederacy,  426. 

Missouri  compromise,  305-S07  ;  map, 
305;  repealed,  388,  389;  declared 
unconstitutional,  399. 

Mobile,  capture  of,  456. 

Monitor,  434. 

Monmouth,  battle  of,  206. 

Monroe  doctrine,  the,  308,  479,  526. 

Monroe,  James,  minister  to  France, 
253  ;  treaty  with  England,  274 ;  Sec- 
retary of  State,  276  ;  elected  Presi- 
dent, 295,  307  ;  administration,  296- 
311 ;  portrait,  296  ;  message  of  1823, 
308. 

Montana,  514. 

Montcalm,  Marquis  de,  145-148. 

Montgomery,  Richard,  194. 

Moore's  Creek,  battle  of,  194. 

Mormons,  the,  541. 

Morris,  Gouverncur,  in  Philadelphia 
convention,  224,  226 ;  portrait,  225 ; 
quoted,  237. 

Morris,  Robert,  services  of,  200 ;  por- 
trait, 201. 

Morris,  Thomas,  355. 

Morristown,  suffering  at,  208. 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  353. 


582 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Morton,  Levi  P.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 514. 
Motley,  J.  L.,  544. 
Moultrie,  Colonel,  197. 
Moultrie,  Fort,  197. 
Mound  builders  in  North  America,  3. 
Murfreesborough,  battle  of,  434. 

Napoleon,  271,  275 ;  issues  decrees,  274 ; 
withdraws  them,  277 ;  confiscates 
vessels,  277 ;  helps  bring  on  war, 
277,  278. 

Nashville,  battle  of,  460. 

National  Bank.    See  Bank. 

Naturalization  Act,  256. 

Naval  battles  in  War  of  1812,  284,  287, 
288,  290. 

Navigation  laws,  the,  52, 172. 

New  England,  map  of,  by  John  Smith, 
68 ;  confederation,  91 ;  map  of,  93  ; 
early  history,  67-97;  character  of 
settlers,  77  ;  in  eighteenth  century, 
119, 120  ;  condition  of  life,  156-160 ; 
education,  159 ;  towns,  157 ;  indus- 
tries, 158  ;  religion,  159 ;  conspiracy, 
267. 

New  France,  founded,  135 ;  early  his- 
tory, 130-150;  condition,  145;  fall 
of,  148. 

New  Hampshire  founded,  89.  See  also 
New  England. 

New  Haven,  87. 

New  Jersey,  early  history,  104-107 ; 
map  of,  106 ;  founded,  105 ;  the 
"Concessions,"  105;  divided,  105; 
character,  106,  161 ;  education  in, 
161. 

New  Netherlands,  98  (see  New  York) ; 
map  of,  99. 

New  Orleans,  founded,  135 ;  battle  of, 
291 ;  capture  of,  435. 

New  Sweden,  101. 

New  York,  early  history,  97-104;  the 
patroons,  100;  taken  by  the  Eng- 
lish, 102;  local  government,  102, 
165  ;  character,  104  ;  in  eighteenth 
century,  120, 121 ;  condition,  160-163  ; 


education  in,  161 ;  picture,  161 ;  the 
British  attack,  197  ;  map  of,  198. 

Niagara,  140, 143,  147. 

Nicollet,  Jean,  133. 

Nominating  convention,  the  first,  330. 
See  also  Elections. 

Non-intercourse,  275-278. 

Norse  ship,  picture  of,  5. 

North  Carolina,  joins  Confederacy,  420 ; 
readmitted,  478.    See  also  Carolinas. 

North  Dakota,  admitted,  514 ;  men- 
tioned, 541. 

Northeastern   boundary  dispute,   351. 

Northmen,  the,  4. 

Nullification,  328.  See  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  resolutions. 

Oglethorpe,  James,   founds    Georgia, 

126. 
Ohio  settled,  248,  249  ;  admitted,  261, 

291. 
Olney,  Kichard,  525. 
Orders  in  Council,  273,  281. 
Ordinance  of  1784,  223  ;  of  1787,  223. 
Oregon,  360  ;  in  election  of  1876,  496. 
Oriskany,  battle  of,  203. 
Ostend  manifesto,  387. 
Otis,  James,  portrait  of,  174 ;  speech 

on  writs  of  assistance,  174. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  528. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  365. 

Pan-American  Congress,  515. 

Panic  of  1819,  301 ;  of  1837,  340 ;  of 
1857,  403;  of  1873,  492;  of  1893, 
522. 

Parkman,  Francis,  544. 

Parties,  the  beginnings,  242-245. 

Party,  the  old  Republican,  243 ;  the 
Federalist,  243,  245,  257,  259 ;  the 
National  Republican,  312,  313  ;  the 
Democratic,  312,  313 ;  the  Demo- 
cratic divided,  409;  Anti-Masonic, 
330 ;  the  Whig,  330,  373,  385  ;  Loco- 
foco,  346 ;  the  Liberty,  347 ;  the  Free- 
soil,  374  ;  the  Republican,  391,  401 ; 
American  or  Know-Nothing,  392 ; 


INDEX. 


583 


Constitutional  Union,  409 ;  attitude 
toward  slavery,  373,  401,  403,  409; 
Republicans  and  reconstruction,  471- 
474,477;  differences  in  Republican, 
487,  506;  The  Liberal  Republican, 
488;  the  Prohibition,  494;  the 
Greenback,  494;  Mugwumps,  509. 

Patroons,  100. 

Patroon  war,  352. 

Pemberton,  General,  446. 

Pendleton,  George  H.,  462. 

Peninsula  campaign,  436. 

Penn,  William,  purchases  West  Jer- 
sey, 105 ;  early  life,  109 ;  portrait, 
110;  acquires  Pennsylvania,  110; 
founder  of  colony,  111 ;  purposes, 
111 ;  obtains  Delaware,  113  ;  makes 
peace  with  Indians,  114 ;  house, 
115 ;  death,  122. 

Pennsylvania,  early  history,  110-115  ; 
founded,  111  ;  frame  of  government, 
112;  a  proprietary  colony,  113;  in 
eighteenth  century,  122;  democ- 
racy in,  114,  162;  education,  161; 
local  government,  165. 

Pequot  War,  89. 

Perry,  Commodore,  286. 

Perry  v  ill  e,  battle  of,  433. 

Personal  liberty  laws,  400. 

Peru,  people  of,  2 ;  conquest  of,  23. 

Petersburg,  454. 

Philadelphia,  161 ;  the  British  enter, 
204 ;  evacuated,  206. 

Philadelphia  convention.  See  Con- 
vention, Federal. 

Philip,  King,  war  with,  93. 

Philippi,  battle  of,  422. 

Philippine  Islands,  battle  in,  532,  533. 

Phips,  Sir  William,  138. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  elected  President, 
385 ;  administration,  386-398. 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  269. 

Pilgrims.     See  Plymouth. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C,  225 :  minister 
to  France,  253  ;  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, 268,  275. 

Pitt,  William,  146  ;  quoted,  178. 


Pittsburg  Landing.    See  Shiloh. 

Pizarros,  23. 

Plymouth  Colony,  70,  75 ;  motives  for 
founding,  69-71 ;  map  of  "  New 
England  "  by  John  Smith,  68 ;  set- 
tlement, 72 ;  the  Mayflower  com- 
pact, 72;  flrst  page  of  Bradford 
manuscript,  73 ;  added  to  Massa- 
chusetts, 96. 

Plymouth  Company,  36. 

Polk,  James  K.,  elected  President, 
354-358 ;  administration,  360-375 ; 
character,  359  ;  plans,  360. 

Polo,  Marco,  8. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  23. 

Pope,  General,  432,  438. 

Popham  Colony,  67. 

Popular  sovereignty,  372,  389-391, 
393. 

Population  in  the  colonies,  153,  154, 
156,  160  ;  in  the  United  States,  282, 
383,  404,  493,  537 ;  distribution  of, 
231,  299,  337,  405,  491,  537 ;  center 
of,  538. 

Port  Royal,  138. 

Portuguese,  the  explorations  of,  9. 

Prescott,  W.  1L,  544. 

Presidential  succession,  511. 

Princeton,  battle  of,  200. 

Providence.     See  Rhode  Island. 

Prussia,  143. 

Ptolemy,  Claudius,  map  of,  12. 

Puerto  Rico  annexed,  532. 

Puritans,  the,  77. 

Quakers,  persecuted  in  Massachusetts, 
91 ;  in  West  Jersey,  105 ;  origin  of 
sect,  107-109;  their  beliefs,  108-110. 

Quebec,  founded,  130;  attacked  by 
English,  138;  map,  148;  falls,  148; 
attacked  by  Americans,  194. 

Queen  Anne's  War,  138. 

Queenstown,  battle  of,  283. 

Railroads,  315-317,  337,  492,  493. 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  colonies  of,  32,  66. 
Randolph,  Edmund,  237. 


^ 


584 


HISTORY   OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Randolph,  John,  quoted,  293,  312  note, 
319 ;  portrait,  313. 

Reconstruction,  legal  difficulties,  471 ; 
Johnson's  plans,  472 ;  congres- 
sional method,  473,  477,  478 ;  condi- 
tion of  South  during,  478,  483-485, 
489  ;  a  continuing  problem,  482,  487, 
489 ;  elections  during,  497 ;  troops 
withdrawn,  500. 

Redemptioner,  153. 

Reed,  T.  B.,  Speaker,  516. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  519. 

Religious  liberty,  in  Maryland,  54-59  ; 
in  the  Carolinas,  65 ;  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 114. 

Renaissance,  the,  6. 

Representation,  in  England  and  in 
America,  169-171. 

Republican  party.     See  Party. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  battle  of,  365. 

Resumption  of  specie  payments,  493, 
504. 

Revolution,  the,  causes  of,  169-188; 
justice  of,  187  ;  beginning  of,  189  ; 
results  of,  212,  215. 

Rhode  Island,  founded,  85,  87  ;  char- 
ter, 92  ;  in  eighteenth  century,  120. 

Riboro,  map  of,  26. 

Rich  Mountain,  battle  of,  422. 

Riders,  502. 

Right  of  discovery,  116. 

River  Raisin,  battle  at  the,  285. 

Rosecrans,  General,  447. 

Sagas,  Icelandic,  5. 

St.  Leger,  Colonel  Barry,  201 ;  defeated, 

203. 
Salary  grab,  491. 
Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  45. 
Saratoga,surrender  of  Burgoyne  at,  203. 
Savannah  taken  by  the  British,  208. 
Saybrook,  87. 
Schools.     See  Education. 
Scott,  Winfield,  portrait,  367 ;  in  War 

of  1812,  287,  288 ;  in  Mexican  War, 

867  ;  nominated  for  President,  385 ; 

in  civil  war,  418,  424. 


Seal  fisheries,  524. 

Secession,  326,  410,  415. 

Sedition  law,  256. 

Seminole  War,  the  second,  345. 

Separatists,  the,  70. 

Seven  days'  battles,  437. 

Sewall,  Arthur,  528. 

Seward,  William  H.,  portrait,  350; 
speech  in  1850,  380  ;  mentioned, 
386  ;  quoted,  391,  403,  457  ;  Secre- 
tary of  State,  418  ;  assaulted,  469. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  nominated  for  presi- 
dency, 480. 

Shays's  rebellion,  220. 

Sheridan,  General,  455 ;  portrait,  455. 

Sherman  Act,  517,  523. 

Sherman,  General,  448,  458,  464,  465  ; 
march  to  the  sea,  458 ;  quoted,  452, 
459 ;  portrait,  459. 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  433. 

Ship  of  fifteenth  century,  9. 

Shipping,  158,  384. 

Silver.     See  Currency. 

Slavery,  beginning  of,  44  ;  in  Southern 
colonies,  153  ;  prohibited  in  North- 
west, 223 ;  discussion  in  Federal 
Convention,  227,  303  ;  extension, 
300,  305,  371,  376-378,  388,  403  ;  the 
cotton  gin,  300 ;  the  Missouri  com- 
promise, 305-307,  388,  389  ;  opposed 
by  abolitionists,  343-345;  the  Wil- 
mot  proviso,  308  ;  popular  sovereign- 
ty, 372  ;  Calhoun's  proposition,  373, 
380 ;  in  1850,  378-382 ;  in  Kansas, 
395  ;  Bred  Scott  case,  399  ;  under- 
ground railroad,  400;  personal  lib- 
erty laws,  400 ;  effects,  394,  404-407  ; 
John  Brown's  raid,  407 ;  cause  of 
the  civil  war,  416;  abolishment  of, 
441  ;  emancipation,  442-444 ;  thir- 
teenth amendment,  463,  464;  cause 
of  Southern  defeat,  466,  467. 
Slave  trade,  304. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  38  ;  portrait  of, 
39;     explores    New    England,    67; 
map,  68. 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  45. 


INDEX. 


585 


South  Carolina,  nullification  in,  328 ; 
secedes,  410;  readmitted,  478;  con- 
dition during  reconstruction,  484 ; 
election  of  1876  in,  496.  See  also 
Carolinas. 

South  Dakota,  514,  541. 

Southern  colonies,  condition  of,  153- 
156. 

Soule\  Pierre,  387. 

Spain,  dominion,  23,  116;  claims  in 
eighteenth  century,  125;  war  with 
England,  127 ;  treaty  with,  in  1819 
(see  Treaty) ;  misrule  in  Cuba,  530 ; 
war  with,  532. 

Spaniards,  the,  23. 

Spanish  colonization,  character  of,  23, 
533. 

Speaker,  Clay  the  first  great,  280 ; 
power  of  the,  516. 

Spoils  system,  the,  324,  506,  507. 

Spots  wood,  Alexander,  122. 

Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  452. 

u  Stalwarts,"  the,  506. 

Stamp  Act,  the,  175 ;  the  Stamp  Act 
Congress,  177 ;  repealed,  178. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  Secretary  of  War,  429  ; 
portrait,  429 ;  removed,  477. 

Stanwix,  Fort,  203. 

Stark,  John,  203. 

Steamboat,  Fulton's,  270;  influence, 
271,  299. 

Stephens,  Alexander,  Confederate 
Vice-President,  415. 

Steuben,  Baron,  205. 

Stevenson,  Adlai  E.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  519. 

Stony  Point  captured,  207. 

Story,  Joseph,  267. 

Stowe,  Mrs.,  writes  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
384. 

Strikes.     See  Industrial  Conditions. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter,  portrait,  103. 

Sullivan,  General  John,  207. 

Sumner,  Charles,  386 ;   portrait,   396 ; 

assault  upon,  396 ;  opinions,  471. 
Sumter,  Fort,  413,  419. 
Supreme  Court.    See  Courts. 


Surplus  revenue,  distribution  of,  331 ; 

reduction  of,  508,  513,  514. 
Swedes,  the,  settle  in  America,  101. 

Talleyrand,  Prince,  254,  255. 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  325. 

Tariff,  the  first,  235  ;  of  1816,  293 ;  of 
1824,' 309;  of  1828,  319  ;  of  1832,  328; 
of  1833,  328;  of  1842,  350;  of  1861, 
449 ;  of  1890,  517  ;  of  1895,  525  ;  of 
1897,  529 ;  a  party  question,  505, 508, 
513,  514,  517  ;  opposition  of  the 
South,  319,  325,  328. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  360;  in  Mexican 
War,  363-365  ;  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, 374;  administration,  375-382; 
character,  375 ;  portrait,  375. 

Tea  Party,  184. 

Tea  tax,  184. 

Tecumseh,  279,  286. 

Telegraph,  invention,  353;  first  mes- 
sage, 358 ;  the  Atlantic  cable,  479. 

Tennessee  admitted,  250;  joins  Con- 
federacy, 420. 

Tenure  of  Office  Act,  476,  477. 

Texas,  140  note,  353,  354 ;  annexed, 
356-358  ;  map,  357  ;  bounds,  358, 361, 
364,  370 ;  joins  Confederacy,  420. 

Thames,  battle  of,  286. 

Thomas,  General  Lorenzo,  477. 

Thomas,  George  H.,  430,  447,  448,  460 ; 
portrait,  447. 

Thompson,  Jacob,  413. 

Thurman,  Allen  G.,  513. 

Ticonderoga,  taken  by  English,  147 ; 
taken  by  Americans,  191 ;  taken  by 
Burgoyne,  201. 

Tilden,  S.  J.,  nominated  for  presi- 
dency, 494 ;  portrait,  495. 

Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  279. 

Tobacco,  cultivation  of,  43. 

Tompkins,  D.  D.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 295. 

Toscanelli,  letter  of,  13 ;  map  of,  14. 

Towns  in  New  England,  83, 157, 163. 

Townshend  acts,  the,  180;  modifica- 
tion of,  181. 


586 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION. 


Treaty,  the  American,  of  1670,  125; 
of  Utrecht,  138;  of  1763,  148;  of 
1783,  213 ;  not  fulfilled,  218,  246 ;  of 
1794,  250;  of  1806,  by  Monroe,  274; 
of  1814,  291 ;  of  1842,  351 ;  the  Ore- 
gon, 361 ;  the  Mexican, 369;  of  Wash- 
ington, 486  ;  with  Spain,  302,  533. 

Trent  affair,  the,  429. 

Trenton,  battle  of,  200. 

Tyler,  John,  character,  346 ;  nominated 
for  Vice-President,  346;  President, 
349-358  ;  and  Texas,  354-357. 

Tlncle  Tom's  Cabin,  384. 

Underground  railroad,  400. 

Union,  plans  of,  103, 104, 139  ;  the  New 

England  confederation,  91. 
United  States,  boundaries  of  original, 

213 ;  development  of,  536-547.    See 

also  Annexation. 
United  States  bank.    See  Bank. 
Utah  mentioned,  541. 

Valley  Forge,  205. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  Secretary  of  State, 
325  ;  Vice-President,  330  ;  elected 
President,  338  ;  administration,  339- 
348  ;  in  1844,  354,  355 ;  nominated 
for  President,  374. 

Venezuelan  dispute,  525. 

Vermont  admitted,  250. 

Verrazano,  29. 

Vespucius,  Americus,  voyages  of,  20 ; 
America  named  from,  21. 

Vicksburg,  capture  of,  446. 

Vikings,  the,  5. 

V inland,  5. 

Virginia,  early  history,  32-54 ;  charter, 
first,  1606,  36;  map  of  grant,  35; 
second,  1609,  40;  map  of  grant,  41  ; 
third,  1612,  45;  Great  Charter,  1618, 
46  ;  House  of  Burgesses,  establish- 
ment of,  46 ;  becomes  a  royal  colony 
48  ;  character,  53  ;  in  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, 122-124  ;  life  in,  154-156 ;  edu- 
cation, 156  ;  local  government,  164  ; 
joins  Confederacy,  420. 


Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions, 
256. 

Walker,  Eobert  J.,  359. 

Wall  Street,  236. 

Walpole,  Horace,  quoted,  148. 

War,  intercolonial,  1 27, 128-138 ;  Revo- 
lutionary, 189-215  ;  of  1812,  281-291  ; 
effect  of,  292  ;  with  Mexico,  362-369  ; 
the  civil,  418-468  ;  with  Spain,  531- 
533. 

Washington  admitted,  514. 

Washington  city,  the  capital,  241,  257 
note ;  taken  by  British,  289. 

Washington,  George,  portrait,  frontis- 
piece ;  meets  the  French,  140 ;  at 
Braddock's  Field,  142;  made  com- 
mander, 191  ;  character,  191, 251 ;  de- 
fends New  York,  197 ;  retreats  across 
New  Jersey,  199;  at  Trenton  and 
Princeton,  200  ;  his  skill,  200 ;  given 
authority,  200 ;  at  Brandy  wine,  204 ; 
at  Germantown,  204 ;  at  Monmouth, 
206  ;  at  Yorkto\vn,211  ;  his  accounts, 
214;  in  Philadelphia  convention, 
224;  President,  233-252;  farewell 
address,  251 ;  Trenton  reception,  259. 

Watcrtown  remonstrance,  81. 

Watson,  Thomas  E.,  528. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  207 ;  defeats 
Indians,  249. 

Weaver,  James  B.,  520. 

Webster,  Daniel,  quoted,  224,  542 ;  en- 
ters Congress,  279  ;  opposed  to  tariff, 
293;  reply  to  Hayne,  327;  portrait, 
327  ;  in  Tyler's  Cabinet,  350 ;  makes 
treaty,  351 ;  7th  of  March  speech, 
379 ;  death,  385. 

West,  the,  migration  to,  297-300  ;  prog- 
ress of,  249,  336,  541. 

Western  land  claims,  221 ;  given  up, 
221 ;  map,  219. 

Western  reserve,  222. 

West  India  Company,  98. 

West  Virginia  admitted,  422. 

Wheeler,  W.  A.,  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent, 494,  497. 


INDEX. 


.87 


Whig  party  (see  Party) ;  named,  330 ; 
divided  on  slavery  question,  373. 

Whisky  rebellion,  245. 

Whisky  ring,  the,  490. 

White,  John,  77. 

White  Plains,  battle  of,  199. 

Whittier,  J.  G.,  542. 

Wilderness,  battle  of,  452. 

Wilkinson,  General  J.,  269,  288. 

William  and  Mary  College,  view  of,168. 

William  III,  95,  138. 

Williams,  Roger,  84,  85. 

Wilmot  proviso,  the,  3G8. 

Wilson, Henry, elected  Vice-President, 
488. 

Wilson,  James,  portrait,  224  ;  in  Phil- 
adelphia convention,  224,  226. 

Winsor,  Justin,  544. 


Winthrop,  John,  portrait  of,  81. 
Winthrop,  John,  Jr.,  portrait  of,  87. 
Wisconsin  admitted,  376. 
Wolfe,  General  James,  147,  148. 
World's  Fair,  the,  523,  545,  546 ;  view 

at,  547. 
Writs  of  assistance,  173. 
Wyatt,  Sir  Francis,  47. 
Wyoming,  massacre  of,  207. 
Wyoming  admitted,  514;  mentioned, 

541. 

X  Y  Z  affair,  254. 

Yeardley,  George,  46. 
Yorktown,  surrender  at,  211. 

Zenger,  John,  tried  for  libel,  121. 


(2) 


THE    END. 


»v 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
THIS  BOUJ%xTAMPED  BELOW 

OVERDUE. 


JilL_24JS4J- 


SEF~5   1945 


mi 


NOV  12 


iSApiusse?- 


^^51BL 


tAR-S-^HsSfrt® 


LD21-100m-7/40  (6936b) 


IU  2/V42 


LIBRARY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

THisoBNooLyTs  ga-ssss^gs^™ 


^BPlLfff   03^ 


wov^Agf 


tC'D 


■%■ 


i-O 


i9 


^a 


flu 


LD  62A-20m-9,'63 
(E709slO)9412A 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


